Personal Loan Terms
Borrowers need to check terms
Summary: Play your cards right and a new loan may be available to you without too much damage to your credit rating.
When you are looking for a loan you will find a considerable number of advertisements in which loan companies are offering to lend sums of money on very acceptable terms. You may feel that your problems are as good as solved, so hopefully you will look closely at the offers available to enable you to decide which to go for. When you carry out this examination, don't just skim over the wording - examine it closely and if necessary call for assistance from someone who knows what to look for.
Keyword News
The problem is that lenders are at present in a very competitive market and are anxious to catch your attention - to do this their adverts will be truthful (they have to be if they not going to be in big trouble), but they will be pitched in such a way that they paint the best possible picture of their terms, without having to say that the terms shown are an example only and may not necessarily apply to you.
'From' usually tells you what the interest charge will be for the borrowers who meet the lenders fairly exacting requirements, whilst 'up to' will refer to the amount they are prepared to lend, but again only those who meet the standards required need look at the higher figures. For most people these levels are likely to be out of reach.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if these two were reversed? This would make advertisers quote their highest rate of interest and their lowest amount which they would lend; we would all have a clearer picture of what terms we might be faced with! Ah well - just pipe dreams.
So you have found a lender who seems to be offering the size of loan which you need and their interest charges look - well - interesting! You decide to follow this up and you get in touch with the company. Now any salesman worth his salt will know that his number one action on talking to a potential new client is to make them feel important. We all like a little boost to our egos and will feel well disposed to anyone who can achieve this. Not mark you, with ridiculous flattery which is obviously untrue and likely to have a negative effect, but of the type which produces a positive reaction.
A frequent first approach is to suggest that a 'special offer' may be available to you because your borrowing is the type of business which they are looking for. The first step will be for the lender to carry out a check on your credit rating to enable them to prepare your 'personal offer'. This step is an obvious necessity but unfortunately it carries a negative effect; from this point onwards your record will show that a credit check has been carried out, whether or not you take up the loan offer. One check on its own is reasonably harmless, but shopping around for a loan can build up a collection which will suggest a slightly cavalier attitude towards debt.
