Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125704, on Mortgages: Interest Payments, by what date her Department plans to have contacted all claimants of support for mortgage interest to offer the new support for mortgage interest loan.

By the end of February 2018 we will have made written contact with all current claimants of support for mortgage interest (SMI). This initial contact is followed up by a telephone discussion and these are expected to be completed by April 2018. It is possible, in cases where vulnerable claimants require the appointment of a Power of Attorney representative, that this process may not be completed by April. Transitional provisions are in place to ensure that SMI payments can continue in such circumstances.