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3 Important Things To Consider Before Taking Out A Personal Loan
By: Jose Miguel Poza
Personal loans are a simple and easy way to borrow usually between £1000 and
£25000 and can be a good way to finance the purchase of a car, holiday, home
improvement or anything else that requires an up front lump sum payment. The
main advantages of this type of finance is that the loan repayments are fixed at
the outset so you have the certainty of knowing how much your repayments will be
during the term of the loan. The other main advantage is that most personal
loans are unsecured which is better for you as you cannot lose your house as you
could with a secured loan.
The first thing to consider before you take out a personal loan is do you really
have to borrow the money at all? If you have savings, you might consider dipping
into them instead of taking out a personal loan as this would save you the
interest on the personal loan which is nearly always costing you much more money
than the interest you are earning on your savings. Of course if you think doing
this will leave your savings a little short, then taking the personal loan may
be better for you as you might feel more comfortable. Also as taking out a
personal loan is a long term commitment, you should be absolutely sure that you
can afford it and will always be able to make the repayments.
The second thing to consider is do you already have access to cheaper borrowing
through your existing credit cards, overdraft facilities or perhaps borrowing
from a close family member? You may find for instance that you can get a lower
rate of borrowing by paying for your purchase with a credit card and then doing
a balance transfer to another credit card of yours offering a lower interest
rate that the personal loan you are considering.
The third thing you should consider is whether or not to take out payment
protection insurance for your personal loan which covers your repayments if you
get sick, have an accident, or made redundant. Payment protection insurance is
generally speaking very expensive and sometimes can cost you more than the
interest on the personal loan itself. Also when loan companies tell you the APR
of the personal loan, it does not include the payment protection insurance cost
so you will need to calculate it yourself if you want to know how much the true
APR of your loan is taking into account the payment protection insurance. You
have to decide for yourself whether it is worth the expensive price you pay for
it. If you are self employed, then the value of the cover will be diminished as
it will most probably not cover you for unemployment.
About the Author:
Jose Miguel Poza runs several financial websites and if you would like to read
more about saving money on loans and where to get good deals on loans, please
visit www.ukloansonline.net
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