A customer is in a short, temporary rough patch
Not all hardship is long-term — a brief setback often just needs a little breathing room and a sensible date to resume.
What this scenario teaches
- Distinguish temporary hardship from a structural one
- Offer breathing room without writing the debt off
- Agree a realistic point to resume normal payments
- Keep the arrangement light and low-friction
- Re-check at the review in case things have changed
5 min read
The scenario
A customer hits a short-lived bump — a delayed pay run, a one-off bill, a few weeks between jobs, a car repair that swallowed the budget. They expect to be back on track soon and just need a little slack for a fortnight or a month. The difficulty is real but clearly bounded.
This is the easiest kind of hardship to handle well: a small, time-limited accommodation usually solves it cleanly and keeps a good customer good.
What's really going on
Temporary hardship is a cash-flow timing problem, not a fundamental shortfall. The person can pay; they just cannot pay right now. The right tool is a short pause or a reduced payment for a defined period, after which normal payments resume. Over-engineering it — demanding documentation, building a long restructure — wastes effort on a problem that will resolve itself.
That said, you still want a clear resumption point and a quick check-in, because the occasional "temporary" setback turns out to be the leading edge of something larger. A light review protects against that without burdening a customer who is genuinely just bridging a gap.
Your options
- Grant a short pause. A defined break of a few weeks often does the whole job.
- Reduce briefly. A lower payment for a set period bridges a tighter squeeze.
- Set a resume date. Agree exactly when normal payments restart.
- Review lightly. A quick check at the resume point catches anything that has worsened.
Recommended approach
Keep it simple and reassuring: "No problem — let's pause this for a few weeks and pick it back up on a date that suits." Agree the length of the accommodation and a precise resumption point, and confirm it in writing so neither side has to remember. Make clear they can call sooner if things change.
At the resume date, a brief check confirms all is well or surfaces a deeper issue early. The place of short accommodations within a wider process is set out in the Academy library.
What to avoid
Do not treat a minor, bounded setback as a major hardship case requiring forms and proof — the friction is disproportionate. Equally, do not leave the pause open-ended with no resume date, or a two-week bridge quietly becomes a six-month gap. And do not skip the review entirely; the rare temporary setback that is really something bigger is best caught early.
The lesson
- Temporary hardship is a timing problem — a short pause usually fixes it.
- Always set a precise resumption date, not an open-ended hold.
- Keep it low-friction; do not over-engineer a bounded setback.
- A light review at the resume point catches anything that has worsened.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a temporary pause be?
Just long enough to bridge the gap — often a fortnight to a month. Tie it to the customer's expected recovery and set a precise date for normal payments to resume.
Do I need documentation for short-term hardship?
Usually not. A minor, bounded setback rarely warrants forms or proof. Keep it light; reserve heavier process for ongoing or more serious hardship.
What if the 'temporary' problem turns out to be bigger?
That is what the resume-date review is for. If the customer still cannot pay, treat it as ongoing hardship and re-set the plan or refer to support.
Real situations, the right call
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