arrears

/əˈrɪəz/ noun [plural] FINANCE

Definition

› money that is owed and should already have been paid: He ran into difficulties with his mortgage, building up more than £18,000 arrears. The government is committed to the full and timely payment of its public debt and arrears.

in arrears › owing money that should have been paid in the past: Only 75 of its 7,300 borrowers are in arrears. About 180,000 homeowners were more than three months in arrears. › UK if someone is paid in arrears, they are paid at the end of the period of time during which the money was earned: Childcare often has to be paid for in advance, while salaries are paid in arrears.

(Definition of arrears noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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