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In light of all the threads I have seen on another forum, I thought I would put together a small guide for you about loan brokers.
First of all if you are looking for an unsecured loan I suggest you do not look at a broker to organise it for you, for many years there has been a trend of companies coming into the market place, with one intention..
to take a broker fee from you, and never supply you with a loan, in the hope that you are unaware of your rights and don't claim the fee back.
there are many many names in the market, I cannot name them here as I don't want to cause any bother for Mr NID in a legal way.
when searching around the web for a loan you will be met with lots and lots of companies, all offering loans to people with defaults, CCJ's etc, be very careful when putting personal details into there web sites, my advice is if you find a company who you feel are the one your looking for, go to there contact us page, phone them and ask a couple of simple questions.
"Are you a broker or a lender ?"
"do you charge an up front fee ?"
if they charge a fee that cannot be built into the loan, or passed on to the lender do not touch them with a barge pole, most of these companies if not all of them will just take a processing fee from you, and that will be the last you ever hear of them.
many common lines from these people are:
"I need your bank details to verify your ID"
"we just need your debit / credit card number for the processing fee"
"the paperwork cannot be sent until you register your debit / credit card"
"can I take your bank card details to pass to the lender"
"the paperwork is in the post, we just need the processing fee from you"
there are so many its unreal, remember do not pass your bank or card details to these people, they will spin lies and think nothing of taking a fee from you, they have no conscience, they are just a money making machine.
To get the fee back it can be a right ordeal in itself, you will need to check there T&C's first to check there refund policy, write to them with a recorded letter and cancel all services with them and request a refund of your fee.
you will not get 100% back, they are legally allowed to keep £5.00 of whatever you paid under services provided by a broker, under the consumer credit act 1974 - (you can see how much profit they are making from innocent people)
Most brokers will pass you details of a company called FLM loans, they are a guarantor loans company, you would need someone with a house and good credit history to be a guarantor for your loan, yes they are an option for some, but with interest rates in the 50%+ levels is it worth it ?
if you know someone who has a home and has good credit and is prepared to be a guarantor for you, why not ask them for a loan ? they could more then likely get one at a much lower % rate.
you don't need to use a broker to borrow from FLM, not that iam recommending you do, they have there own website and you can apply direct.
there used to be a few lenders who would lend to some with bad / poor / not established credit, they were / are Real Personal Finance (provident) - not lending to new customers - Welcome finance (cattle's) - not lending to anyone. there is a few more but I cannot remember who they are.
the only other alternatives are the legalised loan sharks such as provident personal credit (home collected cash loans)
Shopacheck (welcome finance) again home collected
greenwood (provident) home collected
Morses club - home collected
there are quite a few more in the market, they will only lend from £50 - £500, weekly collected, upwards of 250% APR, DO NOT USE THEM !!!!
If you are that desperate for a loan, perhaps its time to look at the real reasons why ? and think about becoming debt free in other ways, a loan is not the be all and end all of your life, if you need help with your debts pop over to all about - starting again area, people will help you.
last but not least, remember:
research who the companies are.
don't hand over personal details unless you are 100% confident in the company you are handing them to:
dont hand over bank details or card details to any company who is a loan broker - your asking for trouble.
if they want an upfront fee, stay away, don't use them, there are brokers who can build the fee into the loan, or use there commission from the lender to cover any fee's.
If you have been a victim of this issue, check the companies terms and conditions about refunds, write to them using a recorded letter, demand your money back.
I hope this is of some use.
First of all if you are looking for an unsecured loan I suggest you do not look at a broker to organise it for you, for many years there has been a trend of companies coming into the market place, with one intention..
to take a broker fee from you, and never supply you with a loan, in the hope that you are unaware of your rights and don't claim the fee back.
there are many many names in the market, I cannot name them here as I don't want to cause any bother for Mr NID in a legal way.
when searching around the web for a loan you will be met with lots and lots of companies, all offering loans to people with defaults, CCJ's etc, be very careful when putting personal details into there web sites, my advice is if you find a company who you feel are the one your looking for, go to there contact us page, phone them and ask a couple of simple questions.
"Are you a broker or a lender ?"
"do you charge an up front fee ?"
if they charge a fee that cannot be built into the loan, or passed on to the lender do not touch them with a barge pole, most of these companies if not all of them will just take a processing fee from you, and that will be the last you ever hear of them.
many common lines from these people are:
"I need your bank details to verify your ID"
"we just need your debit / credit card number for the processing fee"
"the paperwork cannot be sent until you register your debit / credit card"
"can I take your bank card details to pass to the lender"
"the paperwork is in the post, we just need the processing fee from you"
there are so many its unreal, remember do not pass your bank or card details to these people, they will spin lies and think nothing of taking a fee from you, they have no conscience, they are just a money making machine.
To get the fee back it can be a right ordeal in itself, you will need to check there T&C's first to check there refund policy, write to them with a recorded letter and cancel all services with them and request a refund of your fee.
you will not get 100% back, they are legally allowed to keep £5.00 of whatever you paid under services provided by a broker, under the consumer credit act 1974 - (you can see how much profit they are making from innocent people)
Most brokers will pass you details of a company called FLM loans, they are a guarantor loans company, you would need someone with a house and good credit history to be a guarantor for your loan, yes they are an option for some, but with interest rates in the 50%+ levels is it worth it ?
if you know someone who has a home and has good credit and is prepared to be a guarantor for you, why not ask them for a loan ? they could more then likely get one at a much lower % rate.
you don't need to use a broker to borrow from FLM, not that iam recommending you do, they have there own website and you can apply direct.
there used to be a few lenders who would lend to some with bad / poor / not established credit, they were / are Real Personal Finance (provident) - not lending to new customers - Welcome finance (cattle's) - not lending to anyone. there is a few more but I cannot remember who they are.
the only other alternatives are the legalised loan sharks such as provident personal credit (home collected cash loans)
Shopacheck (welcome finance) again home collected
greenwood (provident) home collected
Morses club - home collected
there are quite a few more in the market, they will only lend from £50 - £500, weekly collected, upwards of 250% APR, DO NOT USE THEM !!!!
If you are that desperate for a loan, perhaps its time to look at the real reasons why ? and think about becoming debt free in other ways, a loan is not the be all and end all of your life, if you need help with your debts pop over to all about - starting again area, people will help you.
last but not least, remember:
research who the companies are.
don't hand over personal details unless you are 100% confident in the company you are handing them to:
dont hand over bank details or card details to any company who is a loan broker - your asking for trouble.
if they want an upfront fee, stay away, don't use them, there are brokers who can build the fee into the loan, or use there commission from the lender to cover any fee's.
If you have been a victim of this issue, check the companies terms and conditions about refunds, write to them using a recorded letter, demand your money back.
I hope this is of some use.