A new study by Scottish Widows revealed in February that almost 15 million Britons are not saving for the future, and eight million have no savings at all. The study also found that over the last year, there had been an increase in the numbers of family members who had lent money to other relatives just to help them meet daily living costs – another reason why there has been a decrease in the numbers of those able to save.
A third of those surveyed said that they had under £1,000 in savings and investments, which comes in at just under the average household’s combined mortgage and council tax bill of £1,009. This means that there is little to no safety net should there be a job loss or an emergency, such as needing to repair a roof due to the bad weather or an irreparable washing machine breakdown. Around 30% of those surveyed said that they had been forced to cut back on their savings because of rising costs in daily living.
The continuingly depressing economic climate, with high prices and pay freezes as a result, has meant that many people are struggling to make ends meet from one pay day to the next. If they run into unexpected expenses such as home repairs or vet bills, the lack of savings really makes its presence (or lack thereof) felt. Consequently, more and more people are turning to loans just to get by in times of difficulty.
A simple way of raising cash is to take out a logbook loan. This is a loan which uses your car as collateral and differs in many ways to a traditional type of loan from a bank or a building society. The latter, for example, is usually for a much higher amount and often takes a long time for approval to come through, which may not be time that you have to wait. A bank or building society is decided based on your credit history. With many people having had financial difficulties of late, their credit scores may have taken a hit, making it more difficult to get a loan the traditional way, which then just creates further problems.
Logbook loans, however, don’t need to rely on credit checks because they have your car as collateral. If you absolutely fail to repay your loan, then your car will be reclaimed. Most logbook loan companies are ethical and operate fairly and so do try and do what they can to help you be able to make your repayments without taking drastic action. A logbook loan is also a much quicker way of getting hold of the money that you need, with most loans being approved and the money sent within 24 hours. The cash will be sent directly to your bank account without having to wait on delays of cheques arriving in the post and then taking several days to clear.
With a bank loan, you’ll also usually have a longer period to repay the amount borrowed over (and generally more money to repay). Logbook loans generally have terms of around 12 months, although the specific terms will be determined by your loan company.
