Member Article

A secured loan can help with Chistmas debt

Tony Marshall, Managing Director of secured loan provider Equifinance, explains how second charge loans can help brokers’ clients with debts built up over the festive period.

As the new year starts, many people will now be counting the cost of the festive season, not only in pounds added to their waistline but pounds spent on their credit cards too.

So it’s no surprise that this time of year sees a seasonal peak in debt concerns and in the number of people contacting brokers for a secured loans solution.

The Bank of England has recently reported that the amount of money borrowed by consumers in the run-up to Christmas rose by £1.5bn, the largest rise for nearly eight years. In November, consumers owed a total of £178.2bn on credit cards and loans, the largest amount since February 2008.

These figures provide evidence of an opportunity for brokers to increase their business levels by providing useful information and support to those looking to ease their financial concerns and get their money worries back in the black. Secured loans are a very useful facility for managing overspending and can help resolve a debt hangover after the festive season.

Although secured loans have had an increased profile in recent years, there are still brokers not aware of their full potential. If the client is on a favourable rate with their first charge lender, they can keep that product and use a secured loan to pay off and consolidate their other debts that have built up over the festive period.

They can often be completed faster than a re-mortgage and if there are multiple debts on cards or other loans, they can all be put in the same loan pot with just one monthly payment. Your clients will then just have one secured loan payment to manage which makes things easier for them.

At Equifinance we like to keep the whole process as simple and straightforward as possible. After all, why complicate such a useful form of lending? Working with our broker partners, we have developed flexible products with common sense underwriting to be able to help more of your clients. We can help your clients even if they have irregular income sources, less than perfect credit profiles or want a loan for more than just covering their immediate debt – such as a new kitchen, extension or car.

So the post-Christmas hangover needn’t be such a big headache. We are here to review your cases and provide an appropriate loan based on your clients financial requirements and profile. Our underwriting model is based on years of experience and we can make fast and accurate decisions to help you complete more business.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ron Bell .