meeny's Blog

Loan protection has been called many names including a “rip-off”. The negative slurs stemmed from an investigation by the Financial Services Authority in 2006 when it was found there was wide spread mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) products. Many consumers were not being told how much the cover would cost in total, weren’t given any information about the exclusions which are in all policies and were being charged high premiums for inadequate cover or cover they couldn’t claim against.

When bought incorrectly, the cover can indeed be nothing more than an expensive waste of money particularly if it is taken out alongside the loan with the lender at the time of securing the loan. However, going with an independent specialist can save you hundreds of pounds.

Loan payment protection can when taken out with your circumstances in mind begin to give you an income which is tax free from between the 31st day and the 90th that you are out of work if you have suffered from an accident, an illness or if you have been made unemployed. It would then continue to give you security for between 12 and 24 months depending on the policy. The terms and conditions are always set out in the key facts along with the exclusions which can vary but there are some that are the same in all policies such as if you are in only in part time work, if you are self-employed, suffering from a pre-existing medical condition or of retirement age.

The biggest problems associated with the payment protection sector has been a lack of knowledge regarding the products at the time of taking out the policy with very little if any information being given by the lender as to how much the total amount of cover will cost, the exclusions in a policy and that the consumer has the option of shopping around for the cover to get the cheapest premiums. The majority of loan cover bought is sold alongside the loan at the time of taking it out and it is these firms that received fines from the Financial Services Authority during the investigation. The problem with buying loan protection from the high street lender is that they have little experience in the product and selling it as opposed to the standalone specialist in payment protection who know the product inside out and pass their expertise onto the consumer.

The exclusions should be made clear at the time of buying the policy and presented in an easy to understand format instead of the technical jargon that is associated with policies. Fortunately the majority of standalone specialists will give you access to the information needed because they don’t put the huge profits that the high street lender puts ahead of what’s in the consumers best interest. Always make good use of the expertise that the specialist can provide so that you will not be let down in your time of need but instead have the security that loan protection should give.

About The Author:
Simon Burgess is Managing Director of the award-winning British Insurance (http://www.britishinsurance.com), a specialist provider of low cost income payment protection insurance (PPI), mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) and loan payment protection insurance.

 

As no one knows what’s around the corner, if you have monthly loan repayments to meet you should give some serious consideration to how you would continue to repay them if you were to find yourself out of work through suffering an illness, accident or if you should find yourself unemployed by such as redundancy. Loan cover can give you great peace of mind but it can only do the job it’s intended to do if it is suitable for your circumstances.

Loan cover can give you a monthly income which you can then use to continue meeting your loan repayments if you should lose your income through being out of work for any length of time. The tax free income that a policy can bring would start between the 31st day and the 90th day of being out of work depending on the individual provider and would then continue for between 12 and 24 months.

However you do have to be aware that there are certain factors that can stop you from making a claim and these are listed as the exclusions in a policy with some being common to all policies. If you are of retirement age, self-employed, suffer from a pre-existing medical condition are only in part time work then it wouldn’t be in your best interest to take out a policy, while these are the most common there can be other exclusions as policies differ and it is essential that you read the key facts and exclusions before buying a policy.

Sticking with a specialist standalone provider is essential when taking out cover as in the past loan cover has been widely mis-sold, namely by well known high street brands. This was highlighted in 2005 when the Office of Fair Trading received a super complaint from the Citizens Advice and subsequently several high street firms were handed out fines by the Financial Services Authority. The sector was then referred to the Competition Commission who is currently conducting a comprehensive review which is expected to finish in February 2009. While some changes for the better have been made, the Financial Services Authorities recently stated that little progress has been made in the main areas that need changing, when it comes to selling payment protection products some firms are still lacking in giving out the information needed to ensure that a policy is the right product for the consumers needs at the time of selling.

However the Financial Services Authority are introducing comparison charts in March 2008 and it is hoped that this will make choosing the right policy easier for the consumer as they can answer a series of questions relating to the policy to determine its suitability. Along with this consumers will be told how much they will pay for the cover and what the exclusions in a policy are so that you know straight away if it is a suitable product, for the time being the best way to get all the information needed is to go with a specialist standalone provider for your cover along with the advice needed.

About The Author:
Simon Burgess is Managing Director of the award-winning British Insurance (http://www.britishinsurance.com), a specialist provider of low cost income payment protection insurance (PPI), mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) and loan payment protection insurance.

 

For whatever reason, whether through bad decisions, the loss of a job, or maybe unexpected financial troubles, many people find themselves in a great deal of debt and need help getting out of it. In these types of situations, adverse credit loans can sometimes offer very helpful solutions for reorganization and repayment.

Sometimes, financial troubles cause people to feel like giving up, but searching for adverse credit loans does not have to be a daunting task. Adverse credit loans may be a little less flexible than certain other types of loans, but they can be extremely helpful to those who have damaged credit and are unable to secure other types of loans.

In order to get adverse credit loans, the borrower will have to have some type of collateral to offer the bank or lending institution. Collateral is something that the borrower owns which is promised to the bank in the case that the adverse credit loans are unable to be repaid in the scheduled manner. Normally, and especially with adverse credit loans, the type of collateral used is a house. Because homes appreciate, or go up in value over time and do not depreciate like vehicles, they are a good source of collateral for adverse credit loans. Banks will normally grant adverse credit loans to homeowners, although it is not necessarily guaranteed that every homeowner can get adverse credit loans.

The borrower will also need to find a good lender who can offer adverse credit loans to them. It is up to the borrower to shop around and find the bank or lending institution that offers the best rate on adverse credit loans. Many times, lenders may try to take advantage of the needy financial situation in which the applicant is in, and add a very high rate of interest to the adverse credit loans requested. Although interest on adverse credit loans will definitely be higher than the interest on other types of loans, you should still be able to find a decent interest rate that is not super high, if you shop around for your adverse credit loans.

If you need to get adverse credit loans in a hurry, the best way to accomplish that is to borrow the smallest amount of money possible through adverse credit loans. Before applying for adverse credit loans, it is a wise idea to know the exact amount of money that you need. Conveniently, people can often even apply for adverse credit loans over the phone or on the internet. This speeds up the process of applying and being accepted for adverse credit loans, and allows you to get the best loan possible as fast as possible.

Although deciding on adverse credit loans in a rush is not necessarily advisable, if you keep all of this information with you when you are deciding on adverse credit loans, and if you gather all of your information in a hurry, you may find that you will be able to secure adverse credit loans quite quickly.

About The Author:
James Copper is a writer for http://www.any-loans.co.uk