The Best Car Finance Blog In The World

Did I mention that I won the Innovation of the Year Award at the Frontline Solutions sponsored Finance & Insurance Awards 2015? Well in case I didn’t mention it – I did! And very proud of it I am too. Earlier in the day at the conference, speakers spoke about the motor finance industry and the need for much more education, not just for those selling the finance products such as dealers, brokers, banks, building societies and others but also customers who stand no chance if the people selling the products don’t have a grasp of the way the finance functions.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

To add to the confusion salesmen, anxious to make a sale, end up emphasising benefits that often don’t exist and certainly avoid telling clients anything that may put them off. For example a bank won’t tell you that an unsecured personal loan puts you at greater risk than a secured personal loan.

If you don’t repay your £2,000 loan that is secured against your house and you end up in court it would be very extreme for the judge to throw you and your family out on the street and order the sale of your house with maybe north of £100,000 equity in it for the sake of a £2,000 debt.

On the other hand if the £2,000 was ‘unsecured’ a court order could be issued and you could end up handing over valued possessions such as your TV, computer, jewellery etc. I always say that unsecured means unsecured against nothing in particular. So whilst explaining the finance they kind of miss that bit out albeit that it may be in the small print.

Oh and it doesn’t stop there, they could still go for your house if you don’t have enough value in your possessions in order to pay the debt, known as a charging order. This will force you to pay the debt back if and when you sell your house which is basically what happens when you take out a secured loan that you cannot repay. And that is the tip of the iceberg.

Many retail car salesemen don’t understand how contract hire (better known as a lease) works. But neither do customers and even accountants often miss some of the massive advantages attached to car leasing. At the other extreme there are customers whom, having taken a car on a lease, suddenly become as expert as me! They simply tout around the market to find the cheapest deal but will it end up being the cheapest with so many opportunities to charge all sorts of ‘extras’ included in the contract?

The rates are often not fixed so between ordering the car and delivery you may find that the rates have increased by £30 per month as a result of a £1,000 increase in cost of the vehicle. There are also some ‘brokers’ who are not conforming to the new FCA rules, are not members of any trade association and possibly don’t have professional Indemnity Insurance or are just managing to survive and could be closed down before your car even gets delivered.

How will you deal with that situation? If he is shut down or goes bust what happens to the car you have on order? If the car was ordered by the broker the order will be cancelled and you could be back to square 1. See what I mean? There is more to education than just understanding the basic products.

That’s why I am in the midst of re-writing my best selling book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide and creating educational videos to make sure you understand the upsides, downsides and matters relating to vehicle finance. Watch this space for future announcements and products. By Graham Hill