Try to help Mother raise finance. Help Please.

LULULU1

Hi

I want to help my step mother to release some kind of finance for her. She is 84

She owns a bungalow valued about 200k. Has no mortgage and no debt.

I have heard she may be able to get interest only loans. She is only looking at about 5k

Can anybody advise how she should go about this.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

xylophone

Why does she need the money?

Is she eligible for any benefits or grants?

http://www.which.co.uk/money/retirement/guides/equity-release-explained/equity-release-is-it-right-for-you/

atush

Equity release, downsizing to a flat.

0% interest credit cards.

Lend it to her

LULULU1

Is there such a thing as a life long loan or mortgage where she could borrow say 5k and just pay interest.

atush

Look up equity release, she could borrow more than that, and even pay no interest (the interest will be paid when she dies from the sales proceeds of the house)

The question remains which you didnt' answer, what does she need the money for (knowing that could be a help) and have you called age concern with her to make sure she is getting all the hlpe she is entitled to? Such as pension credit, help to pay council tax etc?

agarnett

Rather than instantly going down the equity release mortgage route, is your step mother yet receiving Attendance Allowance (which is not means tested)? It is not a £5,000 lump sum of course, but it could be quickly saved into one inside a year or two.

If you haven't already looked at it, Attendance Allowance is fairly straightforward to qualify for and the application process can be started online.

Otherwise the most easy to consider Equity Release contract that involves no initial or regular outlay is Aviva's offer. Put £200,000 into that calculator and choose 85% of the value for "inheritance" guarantee and you will see that a single life application at current age 84 releases £15,300 cash.

There is an underlying lifelong fixed interest mortgage which is the"engine" of the whole arrangement which I believe I read is at 5% APR or similar, but the actual interest rate may not be a consideration, whereas the simplicity of setting one up fairly straightforwardly with a household name provider may be what is being looked for here.

Pollycat

LULULU1
You really need to check if your step-mother is getting all the benefits she is entitled to.

Ignore the fact that she owns a £200k house outright, some benefits are awarded on a means-test basis (e.g. pension credit) so it depends on what income she is currently getting.

As already mentioned, depending how she copes with dressing, feeding herself etc, she may be entitled to attendance allowance.
That is not means tested.

This link gives 2 benefit calculators.
Put her details in there to get an idea if she is entitled to anything.

Clearly she has no savings if she is looking for ideas for a £5k loan.