How to Ask for a Pause in Business Loan Payments

When your business is having financial problems, you can ask for a break in business loan payments and you need to help you handle your debt. These periods in payments are sometimes called “paying” or “postponement”.

Asking for a payment break is not trivial, and your lender should be ready to listen to you. If everything possible, you should first contact your lender The financial situation of your business is really serious.

Stopping payments is not your only option. Your lender can discuss your different options and how everyone will affect your loan payments.

We have developed this sample script that you can use to call your lender.

The script was developed with the input of Vice President and SBA lending manager Kevin Johns at the beneficial State Bank, and Senior Vice President, Senior Vice President and SBA Director Maggie Feerans and SBA Feerans at Huntington National Bank.

You: “Hi, I’m hoping to talk to someone about financial difficulties I am experiencing with my business and what may be my powers to manage my debt payments.”

Lender: “Of course, I can see what I can do for you. Can you tell me more about the financial struggle you are facing?”

You: “I have some cash flow issues, and I don’t have enough money to pay for their next few loans.”

Lender: “OK, and do you know what can contribute to cases of cash flow?”

You: “Yes, (explaining the root cause of cash flow cases, such as, difficulty hiring employees, client account reduction, supply chain issues, etc.).

Lender: “It is helpful in understanding. And have you yet taken any action to solve the problem and get back to the track?”

You: “Yes, I have tried (describing efforts to manage cash flow challenges, such as, posting multiple job postings on multiple platforms, access to new clients, efforts to discuss better prices in the supply chain deal, etc.).”

Lender: “Okay. As much as you can explain to me, I will help you to the better position where you feel unable to pay and the more documents you can return to the track, help you in a better position.”

You: “Certainly – I have my latest profit and loss description and balance sheet. I also (documents that you have to prove to handle the issue, such as, to send a job -posting screenshots to your supplies, with a number of platforms, ads or emails.

Lender: “It’s great. All of them should be very helpful here. Please send them to any other documents that you may have to support your request so that I can review them in detail.”

You: “Okay. And if you accept the request, how long have I been able to stop payments?”

The borrower’s response here will be different in terms of your loan type and the lender’s postponement policy. In general, you will know that the pause can occur anywhere in three to six months/payments.

You: “Would you report a break to the Credit Bureau? If so, would it affect my credit score?”

Lender: “Yes, we report postponement to the big credit bureau. In general, the payment pause is noted in your credit report instead of directly affecting your score.”

You: “And after the pause is over, how will my future debt payments have an impact on time?”

Lender: “The first thing to note is that interest will continue to be accumulated on your payments, even when they stop. So that means that the total amount of payment may increase. I can tell you how much your total payment will be affected once I take a closer look at everything.”

You: “Oh wow, okay, I didn’t think about it.”

Lender: “Your monthly payments can extend for your period of period so that your non -payment payments can be calculated during your term. Once again, I can return to you with a new loan amount after reviewing your file.”

Note: Depending on the borrower and the type of loan, you may have the option to make a single, large payment, called Balloon Payment, at the end of your loan period, rather than increasing regular payments. And some lenders may allow you to extend the length of the loan period as part of the postponement process.

You: “I’m glad I asked. It is really good to know. I think I really have no choice, though at least if I can stop the next few payments that buy me time to detect long -term fixes and also make plans for how high debt payments are forwarded.”

Lender: “Of course. There are also some other options that we can find for you instead of a break in payments. For example, paying interest or reorganization of your loan or even the Business Line of Credit.”

You: “You’ve given me a lot to think.”

Lender: “Yes, there is a lot to consider here. But you have options, and we are happy to work with you what we can do for help. I think we should make a follow -up call schedule in the next two days where I can run through some options with real costs. When is the best time you reach?”

You: “(Days and times you are available).”

Lender: “Great, we’ll talk soon.”