A CUMBRIAN building society has pledged its support for customers struggling with the soaring cost of living.

Consumers are having to contend with higher fuel and food prices while rising interest rates are bumping up mortgage bills.

The latest decision by the Bank of England to raise its base rate by 0.75 per cent will only add to the pressure on mortgage borrowers. It is the biggest increase since 1989.

Many lenders anticipate difficult times ahead as borrowers coming to the end of fixed-rate mortgage deals find they cannot afford the higher payments.

But The Cumberland Building Society, which, unlike banks, is owned by its members, the savers and borrowers, is determined to help those in difficulties.

Claire Deekes, the society’s chief customer officer, said: “Many lenders offer their best rates to new customers to tempt them in. We’ve pledged not to do that.

“We’ve made a conscious decision to protect our customers by offering them preferential rates where possible when they come to the end of their current mortgage deal.”

She added: “We have professionally trained mortgage advisers and we have upskilled and increased our team that supports customers in difficulties.

“If someone is coming to the end of a fixed-rate deal the advisers can look at how we can support our customers dependant on their circumstances. These decisions are taken by real people, not a computer algorithm.

“We’d encourage anyone experiencing financial difficulties to speak to us. We’re here to help. We want people to stay in their homes.”

The Cumberland is based in Carlisle and operates 34 branches across Cumbria, southwest Scotland, Northumberland and Lancashire. It is Cumbria’s largest financial institution with £2.2bn of mortgage lending.

The society went to great lengths to help customers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Those efforts were recognised nationally when it won the ‘Best Customer Experience in the Crisis’ category at the UK Customer Experience Awards 2022.

Claire said: “I was completely blown away by that. As a regional building society, to win a national award up against the banks and bigger building societies, as well as companies from all sectors and industries, was an incredible achievement.”

The Cumberland has adopted the strapline “kinder banking”. Claire stressed that this is more than a slogan. It encapsulates the society’s core purpose and values, as shown by its actions during the pandemic.

“It’s about how we treat customers,” she said. “During Covid, we kept most branches and our contact centre open. In some locations we were the only door on the high street still open.”

She continued: “We know our customers really well. If a regular customer stopped coming into the branch, our colleagues would phone up to see if they were okay. They even delivered shopping to vulnerable people.”