Rescued Banks charge extortionate rates for personal loans

The Bank of England started pumping £75 billion into our financial system last month in an attempt to resuscitate our economy and to wage the banks with liquid money to begin lending again for mortgages, remortgages, individualized loans, automobile finance, etc. The Bank of England base rate currently stands at ½% and this Thursday their monetary committee are expected to decide whether the base rate stays where it is or falls to zero percent.  It is being reported that some of the banks that the government bailed-out with taxpayers’ money are now charging taxpayers up to 21% interest for some individualized loans.

Homeowners have seen the value of their properties nose-dive, savers have seen their income from their savings diminish, unemployment has risen to over two million, the cost of living has risen sharply over the last year and now some of the very banks that were saved from going bust by the taxpayers are now charging interest rates that are astronomical. It seems that a individualized loan has a higher interest rate than a credit card. Bizarre!

The Daily express reported that one of their investigators was offered an interest rate of 21% for a £2,000 individualized loan over three years by the Nat west Bank and a similar 20.9% by the Lloyds TSB.  It seems that the Nat West spokeswoman said: “All loan applications are assessed on the customers individualized circumstances and information provided.”

As a bourgeois of money saving advice, I can comprehend banks and finance institutes charging high interest rates to clients that have a less than perfect credit report where they have missed payments, fallen into arrears, been issued with defaults and county court judgements. But it looks like these banks were charging these interest rates to everyone. Banks must be granted to judge risk and charge accordingly for the risk.

These extortionate interest rates do fly in the grappling of the government who has bailed out these banks to restore confidence in the banking system and to get the banks to begin lending money. The banks look to have chosen to continue their greed by extorting their customers further in the motion of profit and money.

Saved exorbitant rates banks charge for individualized loans

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Debt Consolidation – The Options You Have

With consumer borrowing at an all time high the nation is riddled with debt. This coupled with the sharp hike in interest rates has meant that many people are struggling to keep up with their monthly payments. If you are in debt then you are not alone.

You have a number of options to become debt free and financially stable again. You need to think about apiece of these options carefully and make sure you select the ideal one to fit your circumstances. Below is a brief overview of the options you have available, remember to always seek expert advice before making a decision.

Debt Management Plans

A debt management plan is an informal arrangement between a lender and a customer to repay debts at a lower repayment level than contracted for, which is usually around three percent per month of the outstanding balance. Generally debt management plans can be considered in the following circumstances:

# Debts are less than 20,000.

# There is a monthly surplus of at least 200 – 250 to offer creditors.

# If you can pay 1 percent or more of the outstanding debt per month.

# If you are a homeowner and there is insufficient equity in the property.

# If smaller debts can be cleared within a couple of months.

# If debts might be cleared in less than 60 months.

# If the debtor is a tenant.

# If debts are normally inexpensive but arrears have occurred.

Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)

An Individual Voluntary Arrangement or IVA is an substitute to bankruptcy, it is an offer by an you to your unsecured creditors in order to settle debts. The minimum payment (called a dividend) that the creditors will concur to is twenty five pence in the pound.

The process involves preparing a statement of affairs and referring the case to an Insolvency Practitioner (IP), who is usually a Chartered Accountant who specialises in insolvency. The IP puts together a proposal for the creditors, in order for the IVA to be accepted, seventy five percent in value of the creditors must vote to accept the IVA.

Generally the IVA involves a monthly payment from your surplus income for a five year period. It could also include capital raised from your assets such as the introduction of equity from your property.

Usually the IP will charge fees as a lump sum (between 2000 to 3000) up front, some take their fees from the monthly contributions. There are also other fees involved.

You can use the following checklist as a rule of thumb to establish whether an IVA might be the ideal solution for you:

# Debts are more than 20,000.

# There are more than 5 creditors.

# The minimum dividend to creditors is twenty five pence in the pound

# Debtor has no assets (eg is a tenant).

# Debt has adequate income to pay 225 to 250 per month.

# Debts will take longer than 60 months to clear in the normal way.

Banks and other lenders have become more and more frustrated with IVAs. This is because they have become more prevalent in society, which means they are writing of more debts. Some people use an IVA as the simple way out, when previously they would have found a way to pay of the debts in the normal fashion or concur on a deal with the lender.

Remortgage

If you are a homeowner then in some cases a remortgage might be your ideal option. People generally do get a tiny nervous about using the equity in their home to pay of their debts.

If you have a number of unsecured debts and your creditors are aware that there is equity in the home they might apply for a County Court Judgement (CCJ). If a judgement is obtained it is acquirable to the creditor to seek further enforcement action which might include placing a charge on the debtors home.

A remortgage is basically changing the lender and/or deal that you are currently on for a new one. At the remortgage stage you can also dip into the equity you have and use it to clear off your outstanding debts.

A remortgage can be a very good option, if you think of the rates you are paying to credit card companies, lenders, etc then clearing them and just having one lower monthly payment is an captivating proposition.

Secured Loan

A secured loan is basically a second charge on your property behind that of your main mortgage. A secured loan is a loan that is paid out to you based on the equity acquirable in your home. You will pay the secured loan off over a period of between 5 to 30 years at a monthly payment that is deemed inexpensive to your circumstances.

If you have equity acquirable in your property then a secured loan can wage a great solution to clearing your debts. With a remortgage there are a number of costly fees involved not to mention the possibility of an primeval repayment penalty from your current mortgage lender. A secured loan does not carry such burdens. Also with a secured loan generally you will not have a hefty primeval repayment charge.

The rates on secured loans will be much more reasonable than the unsecured debts that you have. The secured loan lender will require you to produce a breakdown of your outstanding debts and monthly payments and make sure that the loan will be affordable, but other than that, obtaining a secured loan is a reasonably straight forward process.

So as you can see there are a number of options acquirable to you. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages, all of which need to be assessed on an individual basis. Now you are armed with a basic understanding you can easily go and talk to companies and experts about your situation and work to resolve your debts.

Debt Consolidation – what you can do

Getting A Credit Card : Do You Check Out?

When people apply for credit cards, lenders check them out thoroughly, so it’s not surprising that many people get turned down. Here’s a guide to what lenders look at when deciding whether you remember for their latest credit card deal.

What’s In A Name?

First of all, credit card companies will search to see if your study is linked to any outstanding fraud cases. This could be bad news if you share a study with a known fraudster. Next, they’ll look at your address. If that has been linked to any fraud or bad debt, it could count against you. That’s why some people publicly disassociate themselves from others in their households who might not be good money managers.

Lenders also check to see of your address is on the electoral roll and whether there are any County Court Judgements (CCJs) against you. If you’re clear so far, then you’ve passed the first hurdle.

Delving Into Your Credit Report

Next, lenders will look at the information held by the credit reference agencies. These agencies (of which Equifax and Experian are the ideal known) hold records on all credit transactions made from the day people first open a bank account. Credit card agencies share the information given on applications. What’s even more important is that they share information about how people have paid their debts. The credit report will show whether people have paid promptly, paid late or defaulted on payments. This is a key bourgeois for lenders in deciding whether people should be allowed additional credit.

Can You Pay?

This payment information will help lenders decide whether people are likely to be healthy to pay them back if they extend credit. They will look at how much people have already borrowed, whether they have paid it back on time and whether they have missed payments. They will also look at the number of credit applications made and assess whether people can afford to take out more credit. All of this information will contribute to the overall credit score. Lenders will use this to decide whether to approve a credit card application, and what interest rate and credit limit to set. After a certain period, provided the payments have been made properly, this credit limit will be increased.

How To Get A Superior Credit Score

Apart from managing credit card and debt repayments properly, there are other factors that affect people’s credit score. These include:
– Their age,older people score more highly – Their marital status, married people are seen as superior risks than single ones – Whether they own or rent their homes. Owning a home is good for the credit score, while living with parents will not help much. – Being on the electoral roll – Avoiding CCJs, bankruptcies and voluntary arrangements. All of these signal that people are unable to mange their debt – Making sure they have no financial links with someone who is a bad money manager.

Getting A Credit Card : Do You Check Out?

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Points to Know About Dealing With Christmas Debts

Prior to tackling the main part of the article, here are some definitions of common terms relevant to the subject. A default is the financial term to denote where you have unsuccessful to meet your credit responsibilities. Should you have neglected a payment on a mail in account, for example, they could place a Notice of Default on to your credit report. This will have a negative effect on your credit file at a later date if you would like to take on added credit.

A ‘CCJ’ actually means County Court Judgement. A CCJ is a legal judgement pronounced by a County Court in connection with someone who is in debt to someone else (an individual or business) or a case where they have unsuccessful to meet the requirements of a credit agreement. This judgement will administer an inexpensive repayment arrangement in order that the one who is in debt will start to cover the money they owe. County Court Judgement are place on official public record and will influence the debtor’s potential of being allowed additional credit for as much as 72 months.

A debt management company helps you re-organise your finances to get you out from under debt. However, they normally charge you something for this service and they might even advise taking out additional credit!

A store card is a form of credit card allowed by a retailer or larger group of retailers. A store card grants the cardholder to pay for products and / or services from the business involved without having to use cheques or cash. A store card like a credit card will include a maximum spending limit set on it. The borrower has to repay anything spent on the card apiece month, otherwise the amount still owing will draw interest fees.

The National Debt Helpline reports that in the months of January, February and March, it experiences an increase in the number of calls it receives – and this is due to fallout from Christmas spending.

Sadly, we are all under extra financial pressure to spend at Christmas, whether it be on presents, extra socialising and even new clothes! However, once the excitement of Christmas is over and you actually realise how much debt you have run up, you might find yourself in the position of being unable to meet your financial commitments.

However, there are ways that you can refrain debt at Christmas..read our tips below:

1. Open up a ‘Christmas Fund’. First of all, draw up your individualized budget – list all your outgoings, from your mortgage/rent to insurance to petrol costs, including food, clothing, savings etc. This will show you exactly how much money you have left over apiece month. Put aside a percentage of this into a high interest instant access statement and call this your ‘Christmas Fund’. Whether you are the type of mortal who purchases presents throughout the year or at the last minute, only purchase if you have the money sitting there in the statement Plus, you’ll have more to spend as you will be earning interest on your savings!

2. In the shops you will see lots of special offers for credit – for example: ‘Buy Now, Pay June!’ – don’t be tempted unless you already have the money there and you are strong willed enough to leave it in your statement until payment is due

3. When buying presents, try not to shop in November or December – this is the time that shops actually over-inflate their prices! Purchase during the income throughout the year. Also, look out for supermarket and shopping catalogue Christmas Savings Schemes.

Don’t let the Yuletide spirit cause you to start into debt!

Points to Know About Dealing With Christmas Debts

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Are Homebuyers Being Frozen Out of the Mortgage Market?

Are Homebuyers Being Frozen Out of the Mortgage Market?

The number of homes changing hands fell to a record low in December despite an increase in the number of buyer enquiries having risen for the second month in a row according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). They also stated that income are at their lowest levels since records began in 1978. The only people who are buying properties at present are people with existing cash, equity in their properties and young people who have been helped with a deposit by their families. Mortgage approvals are so low at present and estate agents are believed to have sold on average 10 homes in the last three months. How can estate agents survive!

The problem as we know it!

Banks are still unwilling to lend money to homebuyers and homemovers who need a 90% to 95% loan–to-value mortgage and this does not look likely to change soon. At present Banks are getting two different messages from the government. The first is that they should lend to the housing market and small businesses and the second message is that they should increase their capital base. This is impossible for the banks as they can't really do both.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors concurs with the current report that Sir Crosby produced and they believe that we need some government backed mortgages to be provided through the existing banking system. The banks would then be more willing to lend money as the government would end up being a lender of last resort. This approach would certainly free up the first time buyers market and make an enormous difference to the number of mortgage transaction.

More buyers are interested but mortgages are not available

Without immediate help there is a real danger of homebuyers being frozen out of the mortgage market, home prices will start to new lows, repossessions will increase and negative equity will become common place. This is a bleak assessment and Ian Perry from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors stated it can only get worse, mortgage transactions are at a 30 year low at present and he believes that there is interest at present and people would like to purchase now.

A small ray of sunshine for homebuyers and homemovers has appeared finally!

Finally there are some interesting mortgage rates for first time buyers and homeowners looking to remortgage that are well under 5% barrier. These new interest rates are for people who have clean credit reports with the credit reference agencies like CreditExpert also known as Experian . In other words they are only for people who have no arrears, have not defaulted on any payments and have no county court judgements. Alliance & Leicester have just released a two year fixed rate at 3.49%, a 2% arrangement fee, plus a valuation fee depending on the property valuation and income required for lending is based on affordability, roughly 4.75 times a single income or 4.5 times a joint income.

Other new interest rates are 5 year fixed rates at 4.79%, 10 year fixed rates at 4.99% and a lender who is willing to lend 15 / 20 /25/ 30 year fixed rate at 5.89%%, a £895 arrangement fee, plus a valuation fee depending on the property valuation, income required for lending is based on 5 times a single income or 3.75 times a joint income and there is a 10 year penalty should you wish to leave. The ideal 2 year tracker rate is currently 2.99% or 1.49% above the Bank of England’s base rate and the ideal 5 year Tracker is currently 3.85% or 3.35% above the Bank of England’s base rate.

To answer my original question, “Are homebuyers being frozen out of the mortgage market?” my reply has to be yes in agreement with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors findings. There are millions of homeowners and first time buyers who have arrears, defaults and county court judgements that are unable to move to another mortgage lender for a superior interest rate due to their credit report. There are first time buyers who are penalised for not having a huge enough deposit to purchase their first home and there are homeowners who desperately need 90% to 100% mortgage products. You should always use a reputable Mortgage advisor to help you find the ideal mortgage acquirable for your individualized circumstances.

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What Happens When you Can?t Meet your Financial Commitments?

What Happens When you Can?t Meet your Financial Commitments?

Mortgages, loans and credit card debt have brought UK consumer debt to over £1 trillion. Yet apiece day, more and more people are finding themselves in financial difficulty which they can't get out of – and this ever-worsening situation has led to a sharp rise in individualized insolvencies, IVAs and bankruptcies.

Despite soaring profits, many banks and financial institutions are now discovering that they might not recoup the money that they have loaned to consumers. In efforts to meet their financial outgoings, many people are turning to secured loans in order to consolidate their debts into smaller monthly payments. However, these new loans are often paid over long periods of time, usually running into several years. If you find yourself in a situation where you’re struggling to make ends meet, it’s a wise intent to seek financial advice. There are many companies which can advise you on the ideal way to manage your debts, or you could consult your local Citizens Advice Agency for help.

If you start behind with your payments, your lender will usually try to contact you either by phone or letter in order to discuss your situation. It’s a wise intent to keep your lender informed of any changes in your financial circumstances, as lenders will often be more flexible if you start on hard times. Burying your head in the sand often only makes matters worse in the long run, and avoiding paying what you owe can have severe consequences such as ever-increasing arrears or even bankruptcy.

If a lender can't come to an agreement with you regarding repaying outstanding debts, they will often pass your debt over to a debt collection bureau – this will remove the debt from their accounts receivable records. When this happens, the transaction is marked on your credit file and your statement is put in “default”. In some cases, debt purchasing companies, such as Capquest Debt Recovery will purchase the debt from the original lender – often for a discounted price – and oppose you for the full equilibrise of the debt.

Since not all customer debts will be collected, businesses typically record an allowance for bad debts which is subtracted from total accounts receivable. When accounts receivable are not paid, some companies turn them over to third celebration collection agencies who will attempt to recover the debt via negotiating payment plans, settlement offers or in some cases, legal action. Having a default on your credit file can make any future applications for credit more difficult, and multiple defaults or a County Court Judgement (CCJ) will make applying for credit impossible. A defaulted statement shows on your credit file for a period of 6 years, whether the statement is subsequently settled or not, while a CCJ will remain for 6 years also, unless it is paid within a month of issue.

Should you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re struggling financially, seek advice on how ideal to handle the circumstances before they escalate out of control. Burying your head in the sand will only make matters worse.

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What Could Make a Credit Card Provider Turn Down Your Application?

What Could Make a Credit Card Provider Turn Down Your Application?

Whilst some people, such as those with bad credit, might always have experienced problems when it comes to getting a credit card, over current months a greater number of people might have found themselves being turned down for credit cards due to the current financial climate.

In some cases credit card companies reserve their ideal deals for those with excellent credit, and they also have to be very careful about who they lend to because they could otherwise stand accused of irresponsible lending.

So, just what sort of factors can stop you from getting a credit card when you make an application? A number of factors that could be stopping you from getting a credit card are listed below:

Failure to fit in with the lender’s criteria: If your details do not fit in with the lender’s profile or lending criteria then you might find yourself being turned down for a credit card. The profile set by lenders could relate to anything from the credit rating stipulations to the age group of the borrower. In order to even be eligible you would need to fit in with these requirements.

If you have already had a lot of searches on your credit file: When you apply for your credit card the lender will run a search on your credit file. However, if the lender sees evidence that there have been a lot of searches on your file in a relatively short period, indicating that you have been applying for a lot of credit in a short space of time, then you are unlikely to be successful. Each time you apply for credit a search is carried out on your credit file, and this is reflected on the file for other lenders to see.

Find out how to get your free credit report.

If you have no credit rating or history: You might experience problems in getting a credit card if you have not taken out any credit in the past, as this means that you will have no credit rating or history or score, making it difficult for the credit card bourgeois to determine whether you are an acceptable risk or not.

These days many providers would rather turn away the business than take a chance on giving credit to a consumer whose repayment habits they know nothing about.

If you’ve never had a credit card or credit agreement before, you can begin to build a credit history with a bad credit rating credit card.

Having dilapidated credit: If you have dilapidated credit you will find that these days most credit card companies will not look twice at your application, as they do not want to get lumbered with a borrower that has had past credit problems. County court judgements, defaults, and a low credit rating will all go against you when applying for a credit card.

You can also compare bad credit rating credit cards, which are designed especially for people with alteration credit to help rebuild and strengthen a poor credit history.

The electoral register: Another reason why you might find yourself unable to get a credit card is if you are not on the electoral register. This enables lenders to verify your study and address, so it is important to ensure that you are on the electoral register.

It is also worth considering how you can improve your credit rating before you apply for a credit card. Such as checking your credit file and keeping up with all existing credit payments and bills.

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County Court Judgements Explained

County Court Judgements Explained

Having a County Court Judgement or CCJ issued against you will have a severe impact on your credit rating, as it signifies that you have had serious problems paying back a loan or other form of credit, to the extent where your creditor has had to take court action against you to try and recover the debt.

If you get into arrears and change to come to a repayment agreement, your creditor might decide that pursuing a CCJ is the only option. The first you’ll hear about it is when you receive a ‘Claim Form’ through the post, sent to you by the county court. This form will set out the details of the claim, including who the creditor is and how much they state you owe them.

If you were unaware of the debt, for instance if you’d moved home and lost contact with the creditor, then repaying the full debt now will stop proceedings going any further. If however you can’t clear the debt, then you should fill out an ‘Admissions Form’ which will also have been sent to you.

This form asks for information about your income and expenses, which the court will take into statement when hearing your case. The Admissions Form should be returned within 16 days of the postmark it holds, even though if you intend to dispute or defend the claim then you can apply to have the hearing delayed an extra 14 days in order to prepare your defence.

Once you’ve filled in these forms and returned them to the court, there will be a easy hearing carried out in private. You don’t have to attend the hearing so long as you’ve absolutely filled in the necessary forms, or unless you wish to dispute aspects of the claim.

At the hearing, the court will objectively review the claim and the information you’ve provided, and come to a decision about the amount of money (if any) you owe, and how it should be repaid. It’s important to note that no one is being found ‘guilty’ or ‘innocent’ here, the court is simply trying to evenhandedly resolve a civil financial dispute.

If the decision upholds the claim against you, then the court order or CCJ is issued. Even at this stage you can stop the alteration to your credit record, as you’ll have one month from the date of the court hearing to repay the debt in full to stop the CCJ being place on record.

After a month, the CCJ will be entered on to the Register of County Court Judgements, and from there it will make its way onto your credit files held by the various credit reference agencies.

The presence of one or more CCJs on your credit file will effectively close off most kinds of finance to you, as most lenders will be very reluctant to advance credit to people in these circumstances. Once, however, you’ve cleared the debt, then the judgement will be marked as ‘satisfied’, and while this will not remove it from your record it is a lot less harmful to your credit worthiness than an uncleared CCJ.

If you have a CCJ on your record, you might be tempted by companies promising to remove it and clean up your rating. Unfortunately, this is only feasible in a few cases. Sometimes, the CCJ is entered on to your record by mistake even though you cleared the debt within the one month time limit. If this has happened then you have the right to have it removed from your records.

The only other ways to have a CCJ removed is to show that there was something wrong with the way in which the judgement was awarded. If, for example, you didn’t receive the initial Claim Form, and you were unaware of the proceedings, then you didn’t have the chance to defend yourself and so the judgement is invalid.

In these circumstances, you can apply to the court to ‘set aside’ the judgement and it will be removed from your file, with the whole process starting again with a new claim and hearing. Any attempt to acquire a ‘set aside’ without a reasonable argument could be seen as wasting the court’s time, with all the legal penalties that would entail.

If you receive a Claim Form through the post, it’s important not to panic. Even though a CCJ against your study is harmful to your credit rating, it isn’t a criminal matter and won’t lead to further action such as repossession of your home or bankruptcy. The CCJ procedure is there so that the court can help to resolve your debt in a way that is clean to both you and your creditor.

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Can You Save Your House in Case You Default Your Mortgage Payments?

Can You Save Your Home in Case You Default Your Mortgage Payments?

-Mortgage payment protection
-County Court Judgement
-Payment holiday

If you have had a large amount of mortgage and are unable to pay back on time, there is a risk of losing your collateral. In case of a secured loan, home is used as a collateral. Remember that if you forget to pay up your monthly dues, you might stand to lose your house. Therefore, it is essential to pay off your bills on time. Think of a worse situation, when you might have lost your job, you are sick and bed ridden. How would you make your repayments?

Simple, you can protect your loan payments in times of redundancy, sickness, accident, loss of job etc. You will not lose your house, if you apply for a payment endorsement policy. You can either apply for a payment endorsement with your loan lender or you can apply with another lender. This payment endorsement insurance, will help you meet up the monthly loan amount. It helps you in a crisis situation, where in you don’t have to fear losing your home as you are unable to repay. Your insurance company will pay on your behalf, and helps replace a portion of your income.

Your secured loan is the most important financial commitment to you. This is because your home is used as a security and in case you change to repay, it will be a disaster if you don’t have a endorsement policy in place. What are you inactivity for, if you are applying for a secured loan, do not forget to protect it. Also remember that it is not mandatory to get a endorsement cover along with your loan. If a lender misleads you that it is part of the loan and you must apply for it, the, be sure he is deceiving you!

The other option to save your home in case of loan defaults is CCJ (County Court Judgement). You can file for County Court Judgement if you want to save your house. The court will set your repayments based on information you wage about your income and spending. You can request for a payment holiday till the date you get another job. No lender will harass you or run any court proceedings against you while you have asked for a payment holiday or file a CCJ. This way you can protect your valuable collateral from being confiscated by the lender.

For most people, their mortgage is the most important financial obligation because their homes are secured by it.  Failure to meet mortgage repayment guidelines can result in repossession.  Many properties have been saved by the assistance provided by mortgage insurance.  Mortgage endorsement insurance is routinely sold in combination by banks and lenders, but this packaging of loans and insurance has come under fire in current years.

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Secured Loans Primer

A secured loan is essentially a loan that is taken out against your home or other collateral. In the context of this guide, when speaking about secured loans and secured lending, reference is being made to that of a lender placing a legal charge over a property.

The most common type of secured loan is that of a mortgage. It is not within the financial ability of most people to buy a property outright so most of us will therefore need to secure a mortgage.
Again, in the context of this guide, when speaking about secured loans and secured lending, reference is being made to secondary secured loans, or second charges as they are commonly known within the industry. Borrowers who apply for a secured loan/second charge are doing so to follow that of their first mortgage.

How Do Secured Loans Work?

To the average lender, secured loans offer a very appealing prospect. They are healthy to lend out massive sums of money with the additional security of a property – They will subsequently have open to them a number of legal remedies in the event of the borrower defaulting there obligations and payments. This will of course include home repossession.
A lender will register a secured loan by way of a legal charge with which the individual must give consent to in order for an application to complete. The charge is then registered at the Land Registry by the lenders solicitors.

When it comes to remortgaging, most secured lenders will require the outstanding equilibrise to be redeemed at the same time as the first mortgage. An exception to this is when a second charge lender allows a deed of postponement, thus allowing the existing second charge loan to run alongside that of the new mortgage lender.

What Are The Characteristics Of A Secured Loan?

The characteristics of a secured loan share many similarities to that of a mortgage. The most common one being that if your do not keep up the repayments on the secured loan, your home might be repossessed.
In the case of taking out a secured loan, it is a common myth that your home will be innocuous so long as you meet the repayments on your first mortgage. This is not true. If you change to meet the repayments on your secured loan, even if you are up to date on your mortgage, the lender can seek possession of your property through the courts.
Secured loans can be arranged on loan sizes that usually range from 5,000 to 250,000, depending on the lender.

Flexible terms are also acquirable on secured lending, ranging from 5 up to 30 years. Some lenders will have schemes acquirable allowing you to borrow more than the value of your property (combined with that of your first mortgage) of up to 125%. These schemes are not too common and it is believed that this is more of a marketing ploy rather than a viable or an advisable option to many borrowers.

How Does A Debt Consolidation Secured Loan Work?

A debt consolidation secured loan enables borrowers with significant levels of debt to consolidate some or all of these outstanding commitments into one loan amount and subsequently, one monthly payment. Debt consolidation is seen by many as an extremely effective short term solution to relieving the pressures of debt.
It is highly likely that by arranging a secured loan to clear off other unsecured debts such as credit cards, individualized loans and hire purchases, the borrower is healthy to achieve a lower rate of interest than that applied to their unsecured commitments.

Not only will this take the effect of reducing the monthly payments but also secured loans can be arranged over a longer term than that of their unsecured counterparts. By extending the term of the loan will also mean that lower monthly payments can be achieved.

This is often viewed as a short term solution as in the long term, increasing the term of the debts might mean that you end up paying more interest. The other potential disadvantage of these types of loans is that consolidated debts that were once unsecured would then transform to being secured on the property.

What Are The Benefits Of A Secured Loan?

There are many benefits to be realised in taking out a secured loan. Many lenders and brokers alike will not charge any upfront fees, home valuation costs or legal fees. Compared to the fees associated with a remortgage, the secured loan option can be a very appealing one to borrowers.

Such fees associated with a remortgage will include valuation and administration fees, higher lending charges, discharge fees, title insurance and telegraphic transfer fees. This list is by no means exhaustive however they might not all be applicable in each case.
The timescales involved along with the various fees involved can be a place off for some homeowners considering a remortgage.

Perhaps the biggest appeal to most homeowners who are seeking finance is the speed at which a secured loan application can complete. At the top end of the scale, an application can take just a matter of days to complete. However for the majority, two to three weeks is a sensible timeframe to look for.

The benefits of secured loans when looked at against comparable unsecured loans are that it is highly likely that you will obtain a more favourable rate of interest on secured lending. As discussed earlier, this is due to the fact that the lender will in this case secure the loan by legal charge over the property reducing their perceived level of risk and subsequently reducing the rate of interest.

A secured loan will also offer a more flexible repayment period than that of an unsecured loan between 5 and 30 years with many lenders. If it is the intention of the borrower to obtain the very lowest monthly payment then this could be massive benefit to them.

How Do I Know Whether I Should Take Out A Remortgage Or Secured Loan?

Each case must be assessed on its own merits. It is impossible to answer this question without careful consideration and assessment of the borrowers circumstances, needs and objectives.

The obvious example would be where a borrower seeking finance has a massive primeval repayment charge to redeem their mortgage. In this case it might not be appropriate to remortgage. ERCs (Early repayment charges) can be as high as 7% of the outstanding mortgage equilibrise which can of course result in thousands of pounds.
By arranging a secured loan in this instance might mean that you would be paying a slightly higher rate than that of the mortgage, however it could potentially save thousands of pounds of charges.

Another example of when taking out a secured loan might be of more benefit to the borrower would be a case where the first mortgage was originally taken out before the individual started to miss payments or run up another form of bad credit. It is highly likely in this instance that raising finance through a remortgage would mean paying a higher non-conforming/sub prime rate on the entire amount of borrowing.

By arranging a secured loan might mean that the borrower can still enjoy the prime high street rate applied to the first mortgage whilst only paying a higher non-conforming/sub prime rate on the new secured loan the additional finance.

Can I Apply For A Secured Loan With A Bad Credit History?

There are many schemes acquirable this day to cater for almost each type of borrower regardless of credit history. If there is acquirable equity in your property and you can meet the affordability criteria then it is highly like that you will be eligible for a secured loan. Bad credit will usually be defined between having one or more of the following:

• Mortgage arrears
• Rental arrears
• Secured loan arrears
• County Court Judgements
• Individual voluntary arrangements
• Bankruptcy

The more severe your credit history then the higher the interest rate that you will be charged. This again is a reflection of the higher level of risk perceived by the lender.

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