Loan News

Over the past decade annual student debt has increased by a staggering 167% - from £1.2 billion to £3.2 billion, according to a new study by uSwitch.com.

Britain is officially a nation of big lenders, as research from Abbey Loans finds that 4.4 million Brits (nine per cent) lend or borrow a sum of money over £50 from friends each year - totalling a whopping £510 million. The average friend-to-friend loan stands at £116.

Wobbling stock markets and rising interest rates make now a perfect time for equity investors to reduce and spread their risks by investing in prime unsecured lending via Zopa.

Many of us are still spending now and paying for it later, according to a survey by Fool.co.uk.

Major finance firms have agreed to change the way they sell payment protection insurance (PPI) over the internet, following action by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

More than 7,716 loan repayments are going unpaid every day as the recent Bank of England rate rises start to bite, new MoneyExpert.com research shows.

Michelle Slade, personal finance analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk, comments: “With PPI currently under the OFT microscope and being seen as an ‘overpriced, inflexible’ product, you may have thought lenders would be reluctant to rock the boat further.

People looking to borrow less than £5,000 are finding affordable loans increasingly difficult to come by, according to MoneyExpert.com.

Zopa, the online lending and borrowing marketplace where people cut out the banks, has won The Banker Technology Award for 2007 for the Best Internet Project.

The Post Office has applauded the Which? research highlighting underhand sales tactics where by payment protection insurance (PPI) is automatically added to a loan, but is not compulsory.