The FCA is clear that homeowners who are behind with their payments are NOT mortgage prisoners. Its stance is grounded in the fact that through being in payment difficulties you are signalling a need for more considered and tailored support than just a product switch.
However, at MSE we believe you CAN still be a mortgage prisoner. This is because thousands of genuine mortgage prisoners have been trapped for so long that it's almost inevitable that some will be in arrears precisely because they've had to pay over the odds for so long.
So when we talk about helping mortgage prisoners, we include people who've missed payments.
But the reality is that all lenders must see evidence of timely payments, and they will usually not offer customers who are in payment shortfall a new deal.