Can I pay off my loan earlier than agreed?

Catbells

Hi

I took out a £6000 loan with HSBC 3 years ago for much needed home improvements before selling my house and retiring. Unfortunately the recession meant my house's value decreased and I didn't sell. I'm doing part time work and have taken in a lodger which is helpful but its still tight. I have some savings and I could pay off the loan balance as Martin strongly suggests on here. Can I do this without any penalty.

Also could you recommend the best compare site please as I want to cut back more than I'm currently doing as heaven only knows when I'm going to be able to sell my house and need to budget fast.

I subscribe to the basic Sky TV package too £18 a month. Is there a GOOD digital alternative to this. I heard the digi box isn't too reliable. Thanks a lot.

CLAPTON

Yes to can pay off the loan early
you need to ask HSBC for a settlement figure in writing and compare that with how much left you would otherwise pay (i.e. monthly payment x number left to pay)

Catbells

Thanks Clapton

What would be an acceptable difference between the two figures - ie the settlement figure and how much I would have left to pay. I get a monthly statement of the loan status on my internet banking site so won't need to work it out!

CLAPTON

what is 'acceptable' is your opinion

whether there will be much difference depends upon the details of your loan..amount, APR, period of loan, monthly amount , number of payments made.

you will still need a settlement figure as they are entitled to add up to two months interest.

As far as sky is concerned, it depends upon what channels you watch... you can stop subscribing to sky but retain the sky box and watch the free channels (see sky website )

or you can get a satellite box with free channnels

or you can get terrestrial freeview ... look at the websites for details of channels
try googling for freee tv channels etc or try
http://www.ukfree.tv/allchannels.php

Catbells

CLAPTON wrote: »

what is 'acceptable' is your opinion

whether there will be much difference depends upon the details of your loan..amount, APR, period of loan, monthly amount , number of payments made.

you will still need a settlement figure as they are entitled to add up to two months interest.

As far as sky is concerned, it depends upon what channels you watch... you can stop subscribing to sky but retain the sky box and watch the free channels (see sky website )

or you can get a satellite box with free channnels

or you can get terrestrial freeview ... look at the websites for details of channels
try googling for freee tv channels etc or try
http://www.ukfree.tv/allchannels.php

Thanks again. I honestly have no notion of what is acceptable but since I've been a customer for 25 years and HSBC are pretty reputable I feel comfortable that they wouldn't try and rip me off. Whatever it is it means I will have £167 extra a month which I could use even though I won't have as much savings. Its hard when you are used to having a bit set aside to dig into it but I can see it makes sense.

Thanks for the links to the TV section too. Cheers and Happy New Year to one and all!

[Deleted User]

Best bet is literally tap Sky on the head and remove your viewing card. You will get freeview channels + a few extras - coupled with the reliability of Sky and the benefits of a fast digibox (most of the cheap ones are laggy and unresponsiveness, not what we would be used to as Sky users).

Catbells

[quote=[Deleted User];28308227]Best bet is literally tap Sky on the head and remove your viewing card. You will get freeview channels + a few extras - coupled with the reliability of Sky and the benefits of a fast digibox (most of the cheap ones are laggy and unresponsiveness, not what we would be used to as Sky users).[/QUOTE]
Thanks Lockers. I've just looked at all the channels that are free and I've been an idiot as they are the ones we watch on balance and we're paying for them cringe. I'm a tennis nut and would like a sports channel only when the major tournaments are being played. If you happen to know of one I'd be glad to hear of it. Otherwise I'll have a look on the site. Cheers.