Personal Loans

Secured Loans

Other Loan Types

Residential Mortgages

Buy to Let Mortgages

Other Mortgage Types

Mortgage Payment Protection

Life Insurance

Other Finance

Loans and Credit Card Basics

A personal loan can either be secured or unsecured. A secured loan uses your home or other collateral to ensure you represent less risk to the lender, thereby giving you lower interest rates than unsecured loans and mortgages.

Personal loans are available from banks, building societies and reputable loan companies as well as more shady companies. A loan can be arranged over various terms, but you should be aware that the longer the period, the more interest you repay. There are many hundreds of offers available, so make sure you shop around.

Overdrafts and credit cards

When you want to borrow money in the short term, credit cards and overdrafts can help you get access to funds quickly and easily. In todays market it's always worth having a good look around for the best deal.

Recently, low interest rates have made borrowing on credit cards a more popular option. Due to the increasingly competitive marketplace, companies are offering tempting rates.

If you pay your entire credit card bill each month, low rates will not affect you because you will not be charged interest. Instead, you should make sure your card has along interest-free period, giving you more time to pay off the balance.

If you don't usually pay off your entire balance each month, the interest rate very important to you and should be conisdered carefully. Ignore all other gimmicks and simply go for the lowest rate which will pay off in the end.

An overdraft can help deal with short term cashflow problems. Most of the major banks will be happy to provide you with an arranged overdraft, but be aware that rates and fees can vary wildly, although you may only pay a simple fee for an overdraft up to a certain limit.