FLM loan?

laurenjs88

I applied for mainstream loan but was turned down due to poor credit,but FLM have accepted me for a £3k loan, i've read the good and the bad about them. I'm pretty sure my parents will gaurantor for me as they have been with my house and i've never missed a payment plus its 3 times the rate of the loan.

I need the £3k to put into my business, I have won £2k and although ideally I need about £10k, half that should get me the development and patent done the most important bits!

I've just started getting DLA of £90 a week so I can afford the repayments easily. I would over pay the loan personally to get rid of it quick.

I just wanted some thoughts/opinions from you clever bunch. I'm 98% sure i'm going to do it, but have got a few niggling feelings...

Thanks

Tixy

If your parents are willing to act as guarantors (and fully understand the possible implications) then financially it would be better for them to take out a loan themselves at a much cheaper APR and give the money to you that way.

laurenjs88

They've just got themselves a loan, so I dont think they would be able to get another one and I dont honestly think they would anyway, they'd be garentours for me, but at the same time my low credit score is my fault and the penelty for that is higher interest rates, I wouldnt want to impair there credit rating (by them having more credit than they need) because of some stupid decisions I made as a teen.

as long as you pay on time etc... are FLM pretty reasonable?

Tixy

Well they have a pretty bad reputation on this board. Although this may mostly relate to people who don't keep up with payments and are not happy with the APRs offered.

If you cannot keep up with payments (if your business fails, if your DLA is stopped by Cameron etc etc) can your parents afford to? If not they are risking being taken to court and then that would affect their credit rating anyway.

If you do a search of the forum for FLM you will see some people's experiences.

Apples2

If your Parents are unable to meet your Monthly repayments comfortably then this plan is madness (although I think all guarantor loans are).
The guarantors HAVE to assume the repayments will stop (the same as the bank think) and be left to pick up the pieces.

If you falter, you are going to Royally hump your own parents credit file.

Dragons Den is my advice if it's a new patented project.

laurenjs88

I am planning on Dragon's Den, but realisticly for any investment you need the patent first. Thats what the loan is for.
My parents could afford the monthly repayments, but so can I. As of this month untill May we have about £600 a month disposable income, but I need to pay the patent costs in one lump.

i'll leave it for now I think and get the designs done first then see how much I've managed to save by that point.

on another note Provident offered me £1k today... lol

ILW

Getting a full patent costs 10s of thousands.

i would try and sell a few of your gizmos before commiting too much.

laurenjs88

mrb1 wrote: »

Thats a very good bit of advice ( Not )

What happens if the item in question is something original and then it is sold without a patent then somebody who you sold one to thinks hold on what a good idea let me patent this item !!!!!!!

It is quite orginal, Ive got about 500 people wanting to buy it already, however whether they'll actually buy it once ive got it isnt definate yet.

Its cheap to produce and anyone with abit of money could patent it a heck of a lot quicker than i can! I dont have a bank of family and friends so im stuck between a rock and a hard place really...

I've got £2500 of my own money to invest that will pay for the development cad etc... then if i got the £3k loan that would pay for the protoype and alittle bit of time with a patent expert to see how i move forward. the actual patent submission cost isnt too much its getting all the paperwork correct in the first place!

That and i'll need a worldwide patent at a later date, but figured i'd sell in the uk first and plough the money back in to get enough for the worldwide patent, rather than racking up more debt.

ILW

Are you certain that nothing similar has been patented before. The search can be very expensive and you could get into serious debt just to find that you cannot get a patent, or that the demand is not sufficient to cover the costs involved. Not trying to put you off but it can be a minefield.