Loans Information

What is an Unsecured Loan?


An unsecured loan is a personal loan where the lender has no claim on a homeowner's property should they fail to repay. Instead, the lender is relying solely on the ability of a borrower to meet their loan borrowing repayments.

The amount you are able to borrow can start from as little as £500 and go up to £25,000. Because you not securing the money you are borrowing, lenders tend to limit the value of unsecured loans to £25,000. The repayment period will range from anywhere between six months and ten years. Unsecured loans are offered by traditional financial institutions like building societies and banks but also recently by the larger supermarkets chains.

An unsecured loan can be used for almost anything - a luxury holiday, a new car, a wedding, or home improvements.

An unsecured loan is good for people who are not homeowners and cannot obtain a secured loan for example; a tenant living in rented accommodation. There are a few things to consider before applying for an unsecured loan: Unsecured loans are invariably more expensive than secured loans, and the repayment periods demanded by lenders are shorter too. This is because they have no guarantee that you can repay the loan, and therefore charge you more in interest to cover the cost of insurance policies that they need to take out to protect them should you default on repayments. In the event that a borrower does not pay up, the lender will invoke the terms of the legally-binding credit agreement and pursue the borrower through the legal system.

Lenders are obliged by law to tell you how much they charge for this type of finance and this is worked out as an annual percentage rate (APR). Ask whether the APR figure quoted is 'typical' or is what every applicant is charged. You should also investigate whether the interest rate charged is fixed for the lifetime of the loan repayment period, or whether it varies with the base rate. Check too on whether there are early repayment penalties.

Unsecured loans vary from lender to lender, so it pays to shop around before making a final decision.

You may freely reprint this article provided the author's biography remains intact:

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help UK homeowners find the best available loans via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.


MORE RESOURCES:

Wall Street Journal Blogs

December 22 Is Deadline to Apply for SBA Economic Injury Disaster ...
MarketWatch - 20 hours ago
The deadline to file applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) is December 22, 2008. Small businesses and small agricultural cooperatives that ...
Small business loans dwindle The Tennessean
Loans available for September storm damage Columbia Missourian
Wells Fargo named top small-business lender in Texas Bizjournals.com
Concordia Sentinel - Marshall County Journal
all 271 news articles


The Money Times

IMF, Nordics pledge $4.6 billion loans to Iceland
The Associated Press - 3 hours ago
HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Four Nordic countries and the International Monetary Fund on Thursday pledged a combined $4.6 billion (euro3.64 billion) in loans ...
Iceland welcomes loans from IMF, Nordics and Poland (Roundup) Monsters and Critics.com
IMF, Nordic Neighbors Agree Billion-Euro Loans for Iceland Deutsche Welle
IMF loans Iceland $2.1bn Shropshire Star
guardian.co.uk - Bloomberg
all 687 news articles


Cay Compass

Loans to Detroit
Salt Lake Tribune, United States - 14 hours ago
The debate in Congress over a bailout of GM, Ford and Chrysler comes down to this: Should the taxpayers throw $25 billion in bridge loans to Detroit, ...
Give Big Three the federal loans they need The Bay City Times - MLive.com
Is Bailout Possible Without UAW Concessions? ABC News
Seeking Aid, Automakers Have a Friend in the UAW New York Times
Kaiser network.org - DetNews.com
all 870 news articles


Working to Thaw Credit Markets: Social Lending Site LendingClub ...
MarketWatch - 2 hours ago
"Lending Club is leading the charge to deliver that alternative by providing a market where people can receive loans funded by other members--giving them a ...


Los Angeles Times

Hiccups appear in bank loans
Burnet Bulletin, TX - Nov 19, 2008
7, depositors have not seen a change in their banking, but loan customers are confronting, in some cases, major problems. Those hurting, in particular, ...
CORRECT: Modified mortgages often re-default MarketWatch
Loan Modifications For Banks Could Mask Future Losses CNNMoney.com
OUR VIEW: Mortgage relief grows Bristol Press
New York Times - The Associated Press
all 984 news articles


New York Times

Breakingviews.com Commercial Loans Are Looking Risky
New York Times, United States - 14 hours ago
The acceleration of this collapse over the past couple of days is partly due to the widely publicized potential default of two loans that are held in many ...


Spiegel Online

FHA-Backed Loans: The New Subprime
BusinessWeek - 10 hours ago
Washington, meanwhile, has vastly expanded the availability of such taxpayer-backed loans as part of the emergency campaign to rescue the country's swooning ...
FHA lowers limits on loans Arizona Republic
FHA: The new Fannie Mae Hot Air
FHA Relaxes Program Rules for Homeowners Washington Post
all 5 news articles


Detroit automakers go to public for support in loan quest
WBXH, LA - 2 hours ago
And the company released results of a poll it commissioned that suggests 55% of respondents think automakers should get the loans they want. ...


Boston Globe

Ailing automakers plead for $25b in loans
Boston Globe, United States - Nov 18, 2008
The chief executives of Chrysler and Ford also pleaded for the loans, which would come on top of a $25 billion package approved in September to help the ...
Auto Execs Reset Bailout Pitch; Republicans to Rewrite CAFE for Loans Ward's Auto (subscription)
Big 3 automakers warn of crisis without bailout MarketWatch
Hopes Dim for Quick Bailout for Automakers New York Times
Philadelphia Inquirer - MarketWatch
all 1,585 news articles


BBC News

Loans to automakers make the only good deal for US
Detroit Free Press, United States - Nov 19, 2008
So consider this deal: For a loan of $25 billion, you could create an industry that would directly and indirectly create 13 million jobs, one out of every ...
Big Three in need of loans Clarksville Leaf Chronicle
Detroit deserves the help Salina Journal
google news commentComment by Gary Chaison Prof. of Industrial Relations, Clark University
Reuters
all 923 news articles

Loans - Google News

home | site map
© 2008 RMB.ORG.UK