Why Guarantor Loans

Guarantor loans are increasing in popularity and yet whilst they were a popular feature of the mortgage market (particularly in the 1980’s with rapidly rising house prices) they were almost unknown in the loans industry until about 18 months ago.

One of the reasons for this surge in popularity in guarantor loans will be down to economics and in particular, the global liquidity crisis which has seen banks and other major finance providers tighten their criteria to make it almost impossible for certain members of society to obtain a loan, or even worse, they have withdrawn their lending facilities altogether.

However the credit crunch has done a lot more than just get lenders, banks and other finance institutions to tighten their criteria. Their new lending stance has actually placed a whole subset of society into the box marked “Do not lend to” and this in itself brings a whole new set of problems.  The subprime credit crunch is well documented but in a nutshell, lenders were lending money to people with credit problems, however (and contrary to popular thought) this was not just a case of lending to people who would not (or had no intention of) repaying their loan, subprime lending was also for people who perhaps hadn’t been in employment very long, or who couldn’t prove their income or in some cases, because they may have missed one or two credit card payments. Either way, these types of borrowers hardly presented a huge risk to lenders as the vast majority repaid their loans on time every time.

Unfortunately, when the subprime crunch became public, it was a case of seeing which lender could restrict their criteria the quickest and for some it was already too late as they went to the wall. Those lenders that remained decided upon drastic action, the main thrust of which was to label “prime” borrowers as “subprime”. To clarify; some borrowers who had a few late payments on a loan or credit card would be classed as prime because they represented very little risk. Now lenders have re-classified those same borrowers as subprime because in this new post credit crunch world, unless you have an A1, first class credit history with absolutely no blips on your file, you will be classified as a risk, especially with something like an unsecured loan.

So what is the solution?

Well, guarantor loans appear to fill the void that the credit crunch has created in the lending sector. They work on two levels and are a definite “win-win” for both the borrower and the lender and here is why.

Borrower

A borrower who is unlikely to be accepted for a loan by anyone else (more details on why further on) can apply for a guarantor loan safe in the knowledge that as long as they can get someone on their side to ‘vouch’ for their loan application, then they are pretty much guaranteed to get accepted.

Lender

Lending money on a guarantor loan is as risk free as it gets with an unsecured loan. Unlike a traditional unsecured loan where the application is assessed and underwritten on the borrower, a guarantor loan is assessed on the guarantor – not the borrower. As the guarantor will have a decent credit history, it means that the lender has a far better than average chance of getting paid each month for the loan. The other major thing to note about this type of unsecured lending is this: Most guarantor loan companies like www.anytypeofloan.co.uk will restrict lending to a new borrower to £3,000. Of course once they are an established client the limit will rise to £5,000 but for a first timer it will be capped at £3,000. This means that if the borrower does default on their repayments, the lender will revert to the guarantor and ask them to repay the rest of the loan on behalf of the borrower, after all, that is what they signed and agreed to.

The great thing about this from the lenders perspective is that the guarantor is unlikely to refuse a request for payment because if they do, it will severely affect their credit profile and they could end up with their credit score being destroyed by this one simple act.

So, the vast majority of guarantors will just pay up and even if they haven’t got the cash to hand, capping the borrower’s loan at £3,000 means that if push came to shove, they could repay the outstanding debt on a credit card or through an overdraft extension. Anything in fact to avoid having their credit history affected.

This is one of the major attractions of a guarantor loan and is another reason why lenders are so keen to lend money on this type of scheme. It works for borrowers, it works for lenders and everyone is happy.

The final thing to note is the charging structures involved in this type of loan. There are lots of firms offering guarantor loans online who charge clients an upfront fee, just for the privilege of applying online, even though there is no guarantee that you will be accepted for a loan. You should always avoid this type of broker and ensure that you only deal with a broker that offers their full trading address, their consumer credit licence (CCL) number and a UK telephone number for you to call them with any issues, problems or queries, either before or after your enquiry.

Remember, all brokers and websites on the internet must display a valid consumer credit licence and this licence must be in the name of the company trading style so if the website is called guarantorloans4u.com, then their CCL must also have that exact name otherwise it is a criminal offence. Unfortunately, the popularity of guarantor loans has led to an increase in bloggers and other sites that do not have the relevant permissions or licences. To check out the company you are looking to deal with, search on the OFT website to ensure they have a valid CCL.

Guarantor loans from www.anytypeofloan.co.uk