Advice about Loans for Pensioners

lhaseldine

Can anyone help with advice?....

I’m wanting to research any safe and reputable loan providers for an elderly relative.

He is 75 years old, and fully owns his Flat – no mortgage on it. 

He has to raise some finance for his contribution of replacing the roof on the building (the are four Flats in one building) and he has damp problems in his kitchen and bathroom. So, apart from the roof situation he desperately needs to sort the kitchen and bathroom flooring; ideally replacement of both. 

He has looked at Equity release but has found that his Benefits may be affected if he went down this route. He receives Sate Pension, Pension Credit and in addition disability benefits, due to being partially sighted. I'm confident that he has enough space in his Income to afford a Loan over 5 years or more. 

A loan or small mortgage maybe the option. He needs to raise £30k.. Are there any providers that would deal with this – and can you suggest who and add any initial advice….?

Many thanks.

fatbelly

State pension and disability benefits are not means tested so i guess you're concerned about his pension credit, which could potentially be affected by a lump sum of over 10k going through his bank account

Is there any way he could do this in stages?

How much is he actually being asked for?

lhaseldine

His contribution to the roof replacement is just over £14k and the Kitchen and Bathroom work has been quoted at £16k. So this is why I / we are looking at potential borrowing of those amounts combined, so that if questioned, he could prove that the outgoings equaled the income. Yes he could pay for the roofing work in one go, which would reduce the remaining balance (ready for the other work)... And yes it could be done in stages - but the roofing work is soon.

My main concern really is where to go, to find a reputable Loan provider that could handle this enquiry.

MattMattMattUK

A 30k loan over 5 years will cost around £650 pcm based on current rates and that would be if he could access a good rate, I suspect due to his low income (evidenced by pension credit) he might have to go down the route of a secured loan which tend to have higher rates (12.5-18%) so increasing that figure to £675-760 pcm. 

If he is on pension credit that would top his income up to his weekly income to £201.05, meaning a monthly income of £871.66, now ignoring the disability benefits, but guessing that those will be far from substantial that would leave him with £221 pm / £51 pw to survive on in a best case scenario, £110 pm / £25 pw in a worst case, and that is to cover all bills, council tax, food etc., which is very likely below what he would need to survive and also pretty much guarantees that no lender would deem the loan affordable. 

lhaseldine said:

My main concern really is where to go, to find a reputable Loan provider that could handle this enquiry.

You will not find one because the loan is not affordable.