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July 3, 2023

You’ve gotten approval from your lender to defer or skip loan payments. If you can afford to start paying sooner than expected, should you? Always start with reviewing the terms of your specific loan situation. In most situations, the sooner you resume payments, the less you’ll pay in additional interest. If your loan continues to accrue interest during deferment, the longer you defer payments, the more interest you will pay. 

For example, if your original loan term was 36 months and you deferred payment for three months, you will still make 36 payments but you’re paying for 39 months of interest. When do you pay this additional interest? It is usually added on to your last loan payment.

Another common question is: I can afford to make payments but since the future is uncertain I'm thinking of deferring my payments just in case. Is that a good idea? It may be tempting, but the downside to doing this is that if your situation changes and you really need the deferral later in the year, you may not be approved for additional months. 

So in general it will benefit you to continue or resume making regular payments. If for any reason you are unable to afford to resume payments when your deferral period comes to an end, contact your lender right away. While the options available to you will vary depending on the lender and your situation, they will not be able to help unless you communicate with them.