Name: Dave Pinnington
Company: V Loans
I was surprised by the Which? article’s inclusion of secured loans as one of its top ten useless products. It demonstrated a cynical eye for headlines, rather than even a cursory attempt at any kind of evidence based analysis.

Our clients see significant financial benefits from taking on a secured loan. For example, by consolidating historic credit card balances into a secured loan, customers who have only been paying the minimum payment on very high APRs, with no chance of ever clearing the balance, get a reduced payment schedule and a fixed end date for their borrowing.

Customers who require finance for business purposes and have been refused by the high street banks, not through any fault of their own, benefit from having secured loans to fall back on.

We also see customers who may have had difficulties in the past through redundancy or illness.

They may require a car, essential home improvements or debt consolidation; the list goes on and remortgaging and further advances may not be available or appropriate. I fail to see how recommending a secured loan to assist these customers could possibly be seen as a useless suggestion.

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A secured loan is not just an option, it can be the most beneficial and compliant choice. With competitive rates, transparent terms and conditions, and usually only one month’s early redemption penalties, it is a valuable borrowing facility.

It is sad that Which? now believes that headline grabbing is more important than facts

Name: Rob Jupp
Company: Savills Lending Solutions
When I saw the Which? headline, my first reaction was to remember the washing machine that I purchased after reading one of its reports. It was the most unreliable electrical product that I have ever owned, which was somewhat different from its gushing road test.

The Which? report, like its report on my washing machine, is misleading. Any client’s borrowing needs to be undertaken with the complete range of financial options to ensure that the right selection is made for that client’s specific need. If the client is a homeowner, this also needs to include secured loans, as it should also include a remortgage, a further advance, as well as an unsecured loan amongst the more obvious choices.

Some Which? readers may be on fantastic reversionary rates with their existing lenders, and they would be considerably better off if they require additional borrowing by taking a secured loan and staying with their current scheme rather than taking out a remortgage.

What Which? also fails to mention, in its apparently unrelenting support for unsecured loans, is that the maximum loan amount is around £25,000 and the typical APRs are very often considerably more expensive than that of a secured alternative. In addition, most unsecured credit can only be taken over a relatively short amount of time, increasing the cost to a budget conscious client.

Sadly, the cost of taking financial guidance from a consumer guide is likely to be far more expensive than replacing the washing machine from hell.

Name: Philip George
Company: Link Loans
Secured personal loans are a very good, sustainable product designed to sit between short-term unsecured loans and long-term residential mortgages.

A secured loan will be needed for a variety of purposes, including home improvements, car purchases or consolidating short-term expensive debt, such as unsecured loans and credit cards.

Usually, unsecured loans are offered at between £2000 and £20,000 over the short-term, with high monthly payments and rates up to 30% depending on the status of the customer. At the other end of the spectrum, is the residential remortgage. However, if the customer redeems an attractive existing mortgage, it could convert into a new less favourable one.

Secured loans offer higher advances than are available on unsecured loans, longer repayment periods, lower monthly repayments and lower rates. Against the remortgage, customers are able to select a lower repayment period but still keep the mortgage with their existing lender.

There is a common myth that a customer who takes out an unsecured loan does not risk his property if he defaults, yet any homeowner that takes out an unsecured loan and then defaults will ultimately put their security at risk.

There is a definite place for the secured personal loan and much depends on the customer’s need in terms of advance size, rate and repayment term. Unsecured lending is suitable for many customers, as are remortgages. But a secured loan will increasingly become more relevant if it is seen for what it really is.