Online data and application for financial products (Charcol Online)

Member Name: rahbar

Product:	Charcol Online
Date:	14/01/03 (784 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wide range of products, Covers a range of providers, Well presented and professional

Disadvantages: Not as wide a mortgage range as some (but still good)

Charcol Online (www.charcol.co.uk) is the web site of Charcol, the independent financial advisors. The online presence is most widely known as an access point for mortgage comparisons, although they also have a range of other services including:
§ Savings/investments
§ Insurance
§ Pensions
§ Loans
§ Mortgages

Each section has search engines and/or wizards to guide you through finding the best deal, and they are quite simple to use. The site is extensive and the range of types of product is very good (e.g. various types of mortgages available ? first time, remortgage, buy-to-let, overseas, etc.)

The site is one of the best ones, so if you are in the process of doing your homework, then this should be on your list to visit. My only real criticism is the lack of range of providers for mortgages. Moneyextra (www.moneyextra.co.uk) seems to have more, although the deals offered are usually good with a best buy section that can be handy to assess what deals are currently around.

A wide range of funds can be found, sorted and analysed by company, sector or rating. The site has more online competition here, and I would have likes to see more comparative tools, but overall this section is still very useful.

Unlike other sites, this one has the ability to save previous searches under a ?profile? so that you can return to them at a later date without re-entering all the information again ? very handy, and something that sets it above other sites.

Overall, a highly recommended site ? a wealth of information on a wide range of services in a well presented site.

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