The first thing that anyone notices when they investigate logbook loans is the size of the interest charges which are levied on this product. We all know that interest charges are the way in which a lender makes money from their endeavors but the difference between the rates at the high street bank and those from a log book loans lender can be difficult for anyone to gasp.
Log book loans interest rates tend to be pretty standard throughout the industry and sit at around 430% which if you are unfamiliar with loans in general, will probably not mean all that much to you. Let’s put it this way if you are in desperate need of cash and decide to use the services of a car title loans company and take out an 18 month loan for the amount £1500 how much do you think you would have to pay back over the loan period to get rid of your debt? The answer is over £4000, and that doesn’t include any of the charges which may be levied for late payments or the fact that your car could be taken off you if you default on the loan.
What about loans from the banks?
Obviously people make use of log book loans because they can’t get access to money from the high street banks but how much would a £1500 loan from one of these institutions cost? Its not unreasonable to find a personal, unsecured loan at the rate of 8.9% APR these days so we’ll use that as a startling point. So you go along to the Bank of Scotland and ask the nice woman behind the counter for £1500 think you very much. You get your loan and agree to repay it back over 2 years so you get even longer than with the log book loan in the example above. Your repayments with the bank would be £78 per month over 24 months meaning in the end you will have paid back a total of £1,867 or interest of only £367 compared to over £2500 interest with the log book company. Which loan seems like the best value to you? Not really much of a contest is it? Lets not forget you don’t have to put your car at risk when getting cash from the bank which makes it even more attractive.
How can a log book lender charge this much?
These companies get away with charging so much money because the consumers who use the product get themselves into a situation where they have little choice but to turn to predatory lenders to remedy their cash flow problems. Unfortunately if you have a bad credit rating or need money in a hurry you are going to find that high street banks won’t wan to touch you with a bargepole. So we turn to instant cash loan lenders and the like to fill a gap and more often than not end up in an even worse state than we started.
There are no simple remedies to this situation, if you need cash in an emergency there is often little choice available. If you find yourself out of cash on a regular basis then you need to reconsider how you manage your finances. Find ways to cut back on your expenses and try to put a little money aside each month so that if you even run in to a problem that requires a quick cash sum you have the ability to get over it without using the services of these log book loans lenders.
