Please enter your
Fast Fact number below:
-
-
BAE in £2bn MoD ammunition deal... Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac slump... Discount supermarket sales rise... Phone-line breach leads to fine... BAA 'should sell three airports'... Mortgage lending slump continues... Apple admits iPod Nano 'overheat'... Manufacturing prospects 'worsen'... Three-way split again on UK rates... Public finances improve slightly... Russian denies buying world's most expensive house... Bosses attacked for forcing employees to wear high heels... Swell time... End is nigh?... Moving question... Quiet revolution... Hot or cold?... Kicking off... 'Cash to leave' offer from lender... Revenue withdraws house sale data... German law to target non-EU bids... Council strike sparks disruption... African bank set for share issue... McCain and Obama spar over taxes... Olympic thirst boosts China beer... China shares rebound from low... £1.5bn super-port contract signed... Call to tackle UK business waste... Crown buyout 'good for business'... Rail franchise runners announced... India airport strike hits flights... Fans face agony over gig tickets... Supply of rental properties rises... Warning from Alliance & Leicester... FSA warning on new investor scams... Homebuilding in US at 17-year low... US bank 'to fail within months'... Rate setter warns on UK inflation... Oil rises as the dollar weakens... Origin urges rejection of BG bid... Arcelor tightens hold on iron ore... Foreign sales boost HP earnings... Guidelines for financial journalists...
Guide to Essential Money Tools
Expat Money Tools
How secured loans work
The secured lending market is growing at a furious rate but too many people don’t really understand what they’re taking on, says Moneyextra.com.
As more and more Brits are turning to secured loans to sort out their finances, Moneyextra.com has revamped its secured loans comparison tool and made available a guide to secured loans written in plain English.
A secured loan works as a promise by the borrower to repay money borrowed from the lender. That promise is backed by the value of the borrower’s property. Moneyextra’s guide explains what a secured loan is, what it is likely to cost, the advantages and disadvantages and the alternatives to taking out a secured loan.
Anyone wanting to investigate whatever secured loans are available to them, can do so by answering nine questions on Moneyextra.com’s website. Your answers will create a results table showing appropriate secured loans ranked by their typical APR (annual percentage rate) interest rates. The boom in secured lending, with growth running at an average annual rate of more than 50% in the first five years of the new millennium had created a lending market worth more than £32.6bn by 2004.
Robin Amlôt, of Moneyextra, says, “Secured loans can be tailored to individual needs. There are advantages to taking out a secured loan rather than remortgaging: the application process is quicker and simpler; there are no restrictions on the purpose of the loan; and there are no legal fees involved, unlike the remortgaging process. A secured loan allows you to borrow more money than an unsecured personal loan. However, you should think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.”