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Halifax 'Loan with a twist'

Halifax are offering a 3.5% loan for new applicants between 2nd January & 7th February, and are paying off 30 new applicants' loans in full by way of a prize draw. As I don't know how many loans Halifax would hope to sign up in this period, I cannot judge whether it is worth the extra interest (£60) over an existing lower rate loan to switch with the chance of getting the loan for free. Does anyone know what the odds are? 30/10000 is a good bet, but not so much if 30/1,000,000!

Comments

  • Never let a promo like that influence your decision, unless they are already your preferred choice.
  • Herzlos
    Herzlos Posts: 16,081 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    It's almost certainly not worth the extra interest. Worth doing if you were going to take out the loan anyway.
  • Deadbeat
    Deadbeat Posts: 133 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud! Mortgage-free Glee!
    Get into debt, and gamble that the lender is going to going to pay it off?

    How... tasteful.
  • I am not 'getting into debt and gambling'. I have an existing loan and wondered if it was worth switching to give a chance of paying it off.

    For large purchases such as cars, we are not all in the lucky situation of being able to fund it with cash reserves.
  • Could you take the loan and pay off the full amount once you know you haven't won, as long as the draw is held very soon after the 7th feb.
    Debt is a symptom, solve the problem.
  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 16,138 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    No, it is not worth switching from a cheaper loan to a more expensive one on the very remote chance that Halifax will pay it off. Even 30/10000 is not a good bet.
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  • ReadingTim
    ReadingTim Posts: 4,087 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Think it through mate.... if you could predict how many people sign up to a Halifax loan in 3 week's time, you could probably also predict next week's lottery numbers, so wouldn't need to apply for a loan in the first place!

    All I can say is that Halifax will have costed this promotion very carefully, and it's unlikely to cost them money - in fact, they'll probably make money from it. That money comes from the loan applicants as a whole, so what's in the bank's interest is not going to be in the customer's interests, is it?!?

    Still wanna go for it....?
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