PERSONAL LOANS
The Financial Services Authority does not regulate these products..
Unsecured
This is any form of borrowing, such as a credit card or overdraft where the lender does not require security against the repayment other than the signing of a credit agreement in which the borrower agrees to repay the loan in the agreed manner.
Secured
Secured loans are where in addition to the credit agreement the lender takes a charge over an asset, usually a property, and in the event that the borrower fails to repay the loan in the agreed manner the lender can take possession of the borrower's property in order to recover the outstanding loan amount.
CONVEYANCING
Why do I need a solicitor?
When purchasing a property you will need a solicitor to act for you and undertake the Conveyancing. From your side the solicitor will protect your interests to make sure that the property you are buying is correctly registered and from the lender's side the solicitor will ensure that it provides good security for the mortgage.
How much will it cost?
The cost depends very much on the value of the property. We can happily provide you with a personalised illustration setting out, up front, all the costs you will incur.
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INSURANCE
Buildings & Contents
If you have a mortgage then your Lender will insist that you have buildings insurance and will stipulate this as a condition of your mortgage. Buildings insurance is there to protect you and your lender and is sometimes referred to as ‘Bricks & Mortar' insurance as it covers the physical building. We can happily arrange this for you if you require.
Contents insurance is optional but we would recommend it and covers all the contents of your home such as personal possessions, furniture and electrical goods. Many people are underinsured and it is worth running through the value of your possessions. Again this is easily arranged at an affordable price as part of our service.
Income Protection
You can safeguard you & your family against the loss of earnings through Income Protection Insurance (also called Permanent Health Insurance). An Income Protection plan will provide an income if you are unable to work through disability, no matter how it is caused. The policy pays a monthly tax-free income for a set length of time, usually until retirement.
The level of income protection available is limited so that you cannot be better off on the plan than you would be at work. Everyone should give serious consideration to how they would pay their mortgage and retain their homes if they were not receiving an income from employment!
There are other policies which will provide short term protection in the event of involuntary unemployment which can be combined to provide comprehensive cover.
Accident, Sickness & Unemployment
Sometimes referred to as ASU assurance it is designed to provide you with a temporary income at a fixed pre-determined level usually for a twelve to twenty four month period.
Life Assurance
Life assurance is designed to protect those you leave behind should you die while you still have a mortgage or other outstanding liabilities. It pays out a predetermined tax free lump sum upon the death of the policyholder. When you take out a mortgage, it makes sense to take out life insurance that would pay off your mortgage in the event of your death. The amount of cover can be arranged on a level term or a decreasing term.
Life Assurance with Critical Illness Cover
Critical illness cover is usually taken as an option with life cover and as such substantially increases the value of the cover as it not only pays out upon death but will also pay out upon diagnosis of a specified critical illness. Most policies will pay out following heart disease, a stroke, renal failure, cancer, paralysis, or a major organ transplant and coronary artery bypass surgery.
Single people need critical illness insurance to prevent them becoming dependent on friends and family. Dual-income couples need it to prevent them suffering a financial blow should one partner have to stop work.
Level term assurance
This is the most basic type of life insurance. In return for relatively low monthly payments, the policy guarantees an agreed amount of life cover (also known as the sum assured) over a fixed term - often the mortgage period. It is commonly used to cover interest-only mortgages, where the capital owed remains constant throughout the mortgage term. The lump sum is paid out if death occurs before the policy ends. Term assurance has no surrender value after the policy has ended.
Decreasing term assurance
With decreasing term assurance, instead of the life cover staying at the same level it reduces over the life of the policy and only pays out if death occurs before the policy ends. This type of cover is popular among those taking out repayment mortgages, as the sum assured reduces roughly in line with the amount of capital owed on the mortgage through time. So if death should occur before the period ends, the policy pays out a proportion of the sum originally assured, which should be enough to pay off the amount of capital still owed to the lender.
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