Looking at the base rate being held unchanged this week Legal and General are forecasting a difficult Summer for borrowers as lenders take a cautious approach.
It is the view of Legal and General, as well as many other observers, that financial institutions went overboard with lending when money was cheap and easy to get hold of. Now they are going overboard the other way by being ultra cautious when lending to anyone.
Consumers will hope that something shifts in the market to free up money to cover general living expenses in some instances, where people have borrowed to maintain a standard of living and can no longer gain access to credit. Legal and General are not expecting that to happen as the cautious approach is maintained.
As the Moneyback Bank stood at the head of the best buy unsecured personal loan table critics were accusing parent company Alliance and Leicester of manipulation.
The offer that got the Moneyback Bank to the pinnacle was a 5.5 percent rate on an unsecured personal loan of GBP 5,000 over a three year term. However this headline rate is only for those borrowing exactly GBP 5,000. If a different amount is requested then the rate is completely different,with even a one pound difference prompting the rate to rise.
Visiting the website of Moneyback Bank there is a loan repayment calculator there showing a difference in repayments of around GBP 200 if the loan is for just one pound less, This is understandably seen as manipulation of the facts to achieve a promotional ranking in the highly regarded best buy tables though representatives of the bank have denied this is the case.
Marks and Spencer Money has received the award for best unsecured personal loan provider by Your Money Direct.
It was felt that Marks and Spencer provide several highly competitive unsecured personal loans as well as making it easy for potential customers to work out repayment amounts and select the option that best suits them. M&S also received awards for their credit cards and travel insurance showing just how focused they are on their financial services offerings.
A Marks and Spencer spokesman made it clear that the award was very special to them but that it did not mean there would be any complacency in future. It is always the aim of M&S to deliver great products that offer real value for money and this will continue.
