There are two main types of personal loans: secured and unsecured. Unsecured loans are not tied to any of your assets, but secured loans are - usually to your property, which is why they are often called homeowner loans. If you default on a secured loan, your lender can force you to sell the asset to pay off your debt. Car loans are also secured loans, with the lender using the vehicle you are buying as security for the loan.
Homeowner loans are tied to a property. Photograph: Frank Baron Most lenders offer unsecured loans of between ?5,000 and ?25,000, although some cap borrowing at ?15,000. Smaller loans are available if you shop around, but if your borrowing requirement runs into hundreds of pounds rather than thousands there may be better ways to borrow the money.
If you want to borrow more than ?25,000, you will need a secured loan. You will also need enough equity in your property to secure the loan.
Interest rates
The APR (annual percentage rate) on a loan is the amount you will pay in interest each year. Most adverts for loans tend to quote a ?typical APR?; you will not necessarily get the same rate of interest when you apply.
Unless you choose a lender with a ?one-size-fits-all? interest rate, factors including how much you want to borrow, how long you want to borrow it for and your personal and financial circumstances will all have an influence on how much you pay.
A bank has to have offered its typical APR (or a better rate) to at least 66% of potential customers.
Interest rates can be fixed or variable, and it is important to know which you are signing up for. A fixed rate will remain the same for the term of the loan, which means your monthly repayments will remain the same.
A variable rate will be subject to change, usually in line with the Bank of England base rate. While this is good news when rates are falling, it can be worrying if rates go up and you need to find more money than expected to make your repayments.
Repaying your loan
Most loans are repaid in monthly instalments & usually by direct debit - over a period agreed before you get the money. The lender will tell you how much you need to pay each month when it agrees the loan.
The repayment period is usually fixed and you will have to pay a redemption penalty - for example, two months? interest - if you want to pay it off sooner. The longer the repayment period, the more interest you will be paying, so go for the shortest you can manage.
Flexible loans, which let you borrow and pay back at will, are becoming more common, but the interest rate charged is often significantly higher.
If you miss a payment the lender will record the default on your credit file. Any new lender may not be put off by one or two missed payments, but if you have missed several you may struggle to get credit elsewhere.
Where to get a loan
The list of organisations offering loans is long and ranges from high street banks, to those that operate only on the internet or telephone, to building societies, credit unions, specialist loan companies and even doorstep lenders.
Typically, cheaper deals are offered by the specialists and internet banks than are available on the high street, but this is not always the case so you should shop around, either online or by contacting lenders to get quotes.
Some Doorstep loans have interest rates as high as 900%. Photograph: Garry Weaser Possibly the most expensive form of credit is offered by doorstep lenders. Unlike mainstream lenders, they will often offer sums of less than ?50 - typically used to cover unexpected purchases - and collect payments weekly. However, APRs can be as high as 900% so borrowers who have a choice will tend to avoid them.
Credit unions are an alternative to mainstream lenders and can be an attractive option for some borrowers because they cannot charge more than 2% a month on the reducing balance of the loan (an APR of 26.8%), and most charge just 1% a month (12.7% APR).
Most credit unions offer unsecured loans for up to five years and secured loans for up to 10 years.
Getting into difficulty
Sometimes things go wrong and it is difficult to meet your monthly repayments. If this happens to you, do not ignore letters arriving through your front door.
The best course of action is to get in touch with your lender immediately. Banks and building societies are often willing to help and might offer to freeze the loan temporarily or extend the repayment period.
Their ultimate aim is to recoup their money, but it is usually more advantageous, including cheaper, for them to reschedule your repayments than to take action against you.
It is particularly important to be upfront with your lender if you have a loan secured on your house or another asset, because if things go wrong you may have to sell up to pay back the loan.
No matter what you call it, nearly everyone has had to deal with acne breakouts at least one time in their life. For some women, dealing with acne is a daily struggle; however, even if you only have to deal with the occasional eruption, acne can be a painful experience.
Many different factors are considered by researchers to be the cause of acne, but a specific cause is still unknown. Factors such as increased hormones, heredity and even the use of some medications have all been attributed to triggering breakouts. In the case of women, it is often the changing levels of hormones in the 2 to 7 days prior to the beginning of a menstrual period that will trigger or worsen an acne flare-up. This combined with skin irritation (caused by rubbing, squeezing or picking at blemishes), pressure from tight clothing (in the case of body acne), pollution, and hard scrubbing can cause acne to worsen.
While dermatologists generally treat moderate to severe cases of acne, it is possible to treat a mild acne flare-up at home. Over the counter treatments that contain such compounds as benzoyl peroxide, resorcinol, salicylic acid and sulfur are often used to treat acne, but each works a little differently. When using over the counter acne treatments, always be aware of possible side effects such as skin irritation, burning or redness, which may lessen with continued use of the product. If symptoms persist or worsen, consult your dermatologist. You may need to consult a dermatologist to see which treatment type is best for your skin type, acne type and cycle of breakouts. Your doctor may also recommend a prescription medication to help control breakouts. This group of treatments include antibiotics, benzoyl peroxide, tretinoin, adapalene and azelaic acid. With all treatments, either over the counter or prescription, products may have to be used for 8 weeks or more before results are visible.
For women, a dermatologist may be able to determine whether acne is related to environment (factors such as pollution and skin irritation) or normal hormonal fluctuation. Medications such as low-dose birth control pills, corticosteroid drugs, and antiandrogen drugs may help control hormone-related acne flare-ups. The use of these types of drugs must be considered carefully, as side effects may vary greatly from person to person and sometimes include irregular menstruation, tender breasts, headache and fatigue.
The first step in any acne treatment should be prevention. By adopting a daily cleansing routine, acne breakouts can be greatly reduced. All skin types can follow these simple steps to help stop acne before it starts:
Clean Skin Gently. Using a mild cleanser twice a day and after strenuous exercise to gently clean the skin can help to reduce the chance of an acne flare-up. Using strong detergents or rough scrubbing pads may seem like the correct way to get a thorough cleaning, but these types of cleansers may actually worsen a breakout. Clean the face from under the jaw line to the hairline; use astringent only if the skin is excessively oily, and only on oily patches.
Avoid Touching the Skin. Squeezing or picking at acne blemishes raises the risk of developing scars or skin discoloration.
Avoid Excessive Sun Exposure. Women have long believed that allowing acne to "get some sun" can help in the healing process by drying out excess oil near the lesion. These benefits are only temporary, and medications to help with acne breakouts often react badly to sun exposure, making the skin more likely to burn.
Choose Cosmetics Wisely. Cosmetics that are noncomedogenic may help in preventing acne flare-ups, and all cosmetic products (including moisturizers, eye shadows and blushes) should be oil-free to help stop acne before it starts.
Treating acne breakouts can range from quick fixes to long-term regimens for skin care set by a dermatologist. With good skin care, acne can be controlled or prevented. Finding the right acne treatment may take time, as women have varying skin types and sensitivities; but with proper skin care and proper treatment of acne, every woman can have beautiful, glowing skin.
Both 4ps Marketing & Andrew bell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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