Borrowing guide - promos & conditions

UK loan conditions can vary greatly across the wide array of UK loans available.

Often the bank will lure customers by means of promotion. Normally, in these cases, the bank will also protect their own interests by attaching an additional special condition on the customer.

A common promotion in the mortgage industry is an introductory rate for a fixed period. The custmoer is charged a lower interest rate for the introductory period, which tends to be 2 or 3 years. Another common promotion in the mortgege industry is where the bank will pay the customers survey fee. A typical special condition in these cases would be that the customer must stay with the bank for a minimum period or pay severance costs.

A similar example in the credit card industry is the '0% balance transfer' promo. Here, the customer can transfer the balace of any existing cards with other lenders, thereby saving himself interest.

A typical special condition in this case would be that the customer must pay and/or spend a certain minimum on purchases each month, thereby allowing the bank to charge interest to the customer.

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