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£25,000 Flexible Unsecured Loan
BlueStringPudding
Posts: 16 Forumite
in Loans
Here's a question:
I would like a £25,000 unsecured flexible loan with which to buy a narrowboat which will be my home. I would like to be able to have the loan over, say a 6 or 8 year period (to keep minimum monthly payments low in case of any major maintenance costs on the boat) but be able to overpay as often as I like - which I intend to do most months. :A
Eskimo Loans (part of the Northern Rock group) offer this facility however they offered me an interest rate of well over double their "typical" rate (admittedly I've moved house a few times as my work till recently has been fixed term-contract but I'm fairly good with money) and their terms and conditions online state:
"...You can make overpayments at any time. Your monthly payment will not reduce and the total amount of interest paid will remain the same unless you settle your loan in full. As overpayments reduce your outstanding balance, you may be able to pay the loan off earlier than expected as your loan term will reduce in line with any overpayments made. If you do pay off the loan early you may be entitled to a rebate of interest, which is calculated using the formulae prescribed by the Consumer Credit Act 1974"
It's the bit about "may be entitled to a rebate of interest" that concerns me. I've tried looking up the Consumer Credit Act on the net but can't find any information about how and by what terms I "may" be entitled to a rebate. What's the point in paying back a loan early if there's a chance I won't reduce the total amount of interest I have to pay in the longterm?
Please can ayone offer me some advice on this? I've not taken this particular loan because they couldn't make it clear to me where I stand on this. Are there any other companies that might offer a similar facility? Or could the "Plastic Loans" trick described on this site cover this kind of sum - I'm quite on the ball and good with looking after my finances so the hard work of keeping track of balance transfers doesn't bother me - or is this just too much money to do that with?
Thanks
P.S. I'm currently a private tenant in full-time employment and earning nearly £30k (plus I have no credit cards, a longterm bank account, an overdraft that's under control and should be paid off entirely next month and a bank-issued flexiloan that I occasionally dip into).
I would like a £25,000 unsecured flexible loan with which to buy a narrowboat which will be my home. I would like to be able to have the loan over, say a 6 or 8 year period (to keep minimum monthly payments low in case of any major maintenance costs on the boat) but be able to overpay as often as I like - which I intend to do most months. :A
Eskimo Loans (part of the Northern Rock group) offer this facility however they offered me an interest rate of well over double their "typical" rate (admittedly I've moved house a few times as my work till recently has been fixed term-contract but I'm fairly good with money) and their terms and conditions online state:
"...You can make overpayments at any time. Your monthly payment will not reduce and the total amount of interest paid will remain the same unless you settle your loan in full. As overpayments reduce your outstanding balance, you may be able to pay the loan off earlier than expected as your loan term will reduce in line with any overpayments made. If you do pay off the loan early you may be entitled to a rebate of interest, which is calculated using the formulae prescribed by the Consumer Credit Act 1974"
It's the bit about "may be entitled to a rebate of interest" that concerns me. I've tried looking up the Consumer Credit Act on the net but can't find any information about how and by what terms I "may" be entitled to a rebate. What's the point in paying back a loan early if there's a chance I won't reduce the total amount of interest I have to pay in the longterm?
Please can ayone offer me some advice on this? I've not taken this particular loan because they couldn't make it clear to me where I stand on this. Are there any other companies that might offer a similar facility? Or could the "Plastic Loans" trick described on this site cover this kind of sum - I'm quite on the ball and good with looking after my finances so the hard work of keeping track of balance transfers doesn't bother me - or is this just too much money to do that with?
Thanks
P.S. I'm currently a private tenant in full-time employment and earning nearly £30k (plus I have no credit cards, a longterm bank account, an overdraft that's under control and should be paid off entirely next month and a bank-issued flexiloan that I occasionally dip into).
0
Comments
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I am in the same position as you !! Wanting to borrow £7500 with Nortern Rock to buy a car, and I will be able to pay off the amount in FULL in 3 months. I was going to take the longest term possible to make my monthly repayments as low as I can, BUT the wording concerned me too.Will I just pay what is left of the 7500 after my 3 months of payments?
If anyone can help I would be very grateful0 -
I am in the same position as you !! Wanting to borrow £7500 with Nortern Rock to buy a car, and I will be able to pay off the amount in FULL in 3 months. I was going to take the longest term possible to make my monthly repayments as low as I can, BUT the wording concerned me too.Will I just pay what is left of the 7500 after my 3 months of payments?
If anyone can help I would be very grateful 0 -
oops sorry am new at this !!!0
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Hello?
Any advice, please... anyone?0 -
Getting a 25k unsecured loan is tough - particularly if you have no equity in your home or evidence on your credit file you can service this much debt.
I suggest you try a bank that has a marine finance division. Barclays and RBS certainly have them and you may find a number in a narrowboat magazine.
Be prepared to pay 8% or so, but to be fair this is the true cost of unsecured credit, when you knock off the effect of subsidy from overpriced payment protection insurance.
You might be able to scrape together £25k over say a six month period, but not easy and you may find it better at least initially to get a specialist marine loan and then chip away at it overtime.
Getting the flexible features you are after may be tough though.
R.Smile
, it makes people wonder what you have been up to.0 -
Lombard do Marine finance as well
http://www.lombardmarine.co.uk/
Not sure if it applies to narrowboats0
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