this list of companies' offering a secured personal loan for UK home owner's or mortgage payers at Fast Cash Today is a site to help you find a low cost secured loan .

What is a secured personal loan?

So, why do people take out secured personal loans? Well, firstly you may want to borrow money in order to increase your home's value by making improvements to your home. Others may take on a debt consolidation loan, which means that you take on a large loan for a long period, which pays, off your other loans and credit cards and you end up paying a smaller monthly payment than you were paying with all of your other loans together.

Secured loans offer lower interest rates, due to the lower risk that is being taken on by the loan company.

If you default on your payments, you will find that loan providers will be a good deal more patient with you. Because they know that they have your home as collateral for the loan, they will give you more time to recover from whatever problems you are having that are making you late on your payments. This is not guaranteed though, so take the time to plan your payments and make sure that you can make them comfortably before you take the loan out.

The application process is a lot longer with secured loans than with unsecured loans, due to the fact that your loan provider will need to value your home. The cheaper rate that you should get can make this worth the wait.

However, it is easier for you to be approved for a secured loan. Because you are betting your home that you can make your repayments. It is very likely that your loan is far smaller than the value of your home, so the loan provider will like those odds, and see it as less risk. Financial product providers like less risk, and especially like shared risk.

What is an unsecured personal loan?

On the plus side, your loan application would be processed quicker, meaning that you would be able to get hold of your money quicker. This is because your home doesn't need to be valued as part of your application. So, once you submit an application, you can expect a reply and a decision to be communicated very quickly.

Don't think, though, that by taking out an unsecured loan you are ridding yourself of all risks associated with borrowing money. If you default on your payments, you can have court proceedings taken out against you. This can lead in the worst case to your home having to be sold. The way that works is that if you can't pay the loan provider back with money, the court can order something of yours to be sold/ Depending on the amount outstanding on the loan, this could be your home. So, you can turn an unsecured loan into a secured loan by defaulting on your unsecured loan payments.

Because you don't have immediate security, you may find that the loan providers will be less patient with the fortunes of their investment. They're more likely to chase you aggressively should you be defaulting on payments. This means your credit record could be affected, which in turn lessens your ability to get any more loans or financial products.

Loan companies will check your credit record in order to get a credit score for you before they will give you any money. Your credit score is contributed to by your employment history, your accommodation history, and your repayment history with previous financial products.

It's all about striking a balance between getting quick access to funds and being prepared to pay the extra that you are charged for the privilege. As long as you are absolutely sure that you can make the repayments, secured loans are cheaper.

Why are these type of loan known as "personal loans"?

Whilst a mortgage isn't a personal loan, if you are simply making improvements to your home, that can be said to be personal. You can take out a loan secured on your home, sometimes with your mortgage provider. Should you default on the loan, they can get your home, and yet the home improvements will probably have increased the value of the property. You should understand that if you do take out a secured loan, you are taking a risk on your property, so you should ensure that you can make the repayments.

Then there is the option of buying a car. You can get a personal loan for amounts between £5000 and £25000. This is the most appropriate size for a car purchase. You'll find that one of the most convenient ways to do this is through 'car finance', offered by the dealer who sells you the car. Be careful with this. It's really another type of personal loan. But, is the finance offered by the dealer a good deal? They might not offer you the best rates, and may hope that the convenience for you of arranging a loan at the same time will be a sufficient quid pro quo for you. If it is, then that's up to you.

You can also restructure all of your other debts in to one single payment using what is known as a debt consolidation loan. You may have a few credit card debts, and maybe one or two personal loans as well. You can get the repayments for these "restructured" into a smaller payment per month in total over a longer period than normal, which is how they make the payments smaller. The loan is normally large enough to cover the debts you want to consolidate. However, it is not unusual for people to take out a consolidation loan that adds up to more than the amount they wish to pay off. This is in order to get access to a particular lump sum in order to fund home improvements or maybe a car. These are secured so make sure you can afford the payments.

But is it really personal loans that you want? Well, you need to look at a few factors. How long will you need in which to repay the loans? Is it less than a year? If it is then you would be better advised to use a credit card. If you need to borrow money for between one and five years, then loans might be better. Then there is the amount of money you want to borrow. If it is less than £5000, then having a credit card would mean you can pay it off at your own pace, although the interest charges will be higher. Should it be over £5000, you should use loans.

Many people also get what is known as a debt consolidation loan, which is where you pay off a number of different debts with one single loan. You can use this to pay off credit cards, and other loans and this can reduce your overall cost of credit. But, it is usually a secured loan - likely to be on your home - which is consolidating unsecured debts, so whilst the interest you pay will be down, your risks will be raised significantly.

There are many types of loan providers. Banks and building societies offer loans, as do more specialist finance companies. It pays to shop around in such a competitive market. It also pays to learn about the different criteria used by the different lenders when they choose their borrowers.

You can find secured and unsecured loans and you also have the facility to apply online.

We also look at the student loans, and career development loans, as well as the bridging and home improvement loans, which are more property-related.