Ideas on Loans in general... (Other Personal Loans)

Member Name: washboard

Product:	Other Personal Loans
Date:	24/06/01 (255 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Competitive interest rates at the moment if you need a loan

Disadvantages: Can be costly, Watch out for loan protection costs

The first thing I would have to say is definately shop around, It is a consumers market out there and all the banks and building societies want our money. Around 5 years ago I needed a loan and couldn't get a decent Apr for love nor money they were all around 12.9% to 16% dependant on how much you wanted to borrow. Nowadays you can get rates from 8% upwards. What I actually did recently was to repay an existing loan off that had payment protection on with a new loan for a shorter period of time without payment protection. I saved £1500, I couldn't believe it. The reason being was I slashed my interest rate from 15.9% to 8.9% and payment protection was costing an arm and a leg, and best of all I reduced the payment terms by one year.
Just for reference it was a barclays masterloan I had, and Converted it to an MBNA loan. If you have already got an existing loan and still have 3 or 4 maybe more years to pay off look around and get a quote you could save some money. The other thing I would advise, is Don't be forced to take out payment protection some loan companies include it in a quote and sometimes you don't get that good an offer. Only take out the payment protection if you really are so unsure of your financial future. It can make loan repayments very expensive.

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