Many people have inaccurate perceptions of what a loan broker does. They might think that they will be bamboozled with ‘money-speak’ or that they will be ‘taken for a ride’. However, both these assumptions are far from the truth.
Basically, a UK loan broker is there to help a person who is looking for a loan obtain the cheapest and best deal available to them based upon the borrower’s specific needs and the resulting solutions will be tailor made to suit the borrower’s own individual circumstances.
In a way, there is some similarity with buying a new car. For example, if you found the car of your dreams in the showroom, you would probably shop around a few dealers first of all to ensure that you are paying the lowest price for your new car before making any commitment to purchase.
Likewise with loans, there are many variables on top of a lender’s APR that need to be factored into the total overall cost when considering which loan product to sign up to.
The trouble is, that whilst there are many comparison sites of different financial products on the web these days, most of them do little more than offer you side by side comparisons based on the lenders’ typical APR. And firstly, ‘typical’ means that not all applicants will be eligible for that rate. In fact, around a third won’t be and, secondly, there may be other additional charges and fees that may not have been built into the quotes given on a comparison website.
A loan broker is designed to take out all of the guesswork for you. Not only that, they will save you valuable time and could even save you considerable money.
They would usually ask you how much you want to borrow, over what term and if you have any additional requirements which you’d like added to your loan package. Armed with that information, they will then search from their vast panel of lenders to find you the right deal specifically tailored to suit your needs. They’re independent so they’re not going to steer you towards any particular company as they work with many, often several hundred. Also, some of these are not available to customers direct and, such is the good standing of the relationship between the lender and the broker, the latter can often source you even better deals.
Because this all takes the labour of searching away from you, many cynics might be thinking how much this all costs. Well, the fact is that a reputable broker won’t charge you a penny for their time. They simply make their income by obtaining a commission from any lender whose products they’ve recommended which have resulted in a loan ‘sale’. Therefore, it’s always in the broker’s own interest to find you the best deal to suit your own interests.
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