Guide to Self Employed Loans UK

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728

Summary:
Since the self employed people find themselves disadvantaged in the regular loans, self employed loans offer to give them the much-needed financial respite. At a slightly increased APR, self employed loans can give them an access to finance. The following article deals with the distinct features of self employed loans and how they can benefit the self employed people.


Keywords:
UK debt Consolidation loan, debt management, Debt Advice, Self employed loans


Article Body:
A discussion about self employed loans in the UK will be incomplete without discussing about self employed people and what special characteristics do they possess in order to command a specialised loan. Self employed people are the ones who have shunned employment and are working on their own operations. Sometimes known as entrepreneurs, and sometimes as businesspersons, self employed people may attain different names according to the type and size of business. Contractors and independent consultants too belong to the same category.
            
The profits from the operations contribute towards the remuneration of self employed people. Regular repayment schedules, where borrower amortises loan balance through fixed monthly repayments will not be suitable for the self employeds since profits are largely irregular. One of the very basic reasons behind self employed loans in the UK is to incorporate this irregularity of income into loan repayments. 

Insufficient proof of income forms another distinct characteristic of self employed people. Had it been for a salaried borrower, he would have easily presented the salary slip or P60 form to prove his income. Self employed people are partly to be blamed for the lack of proof of income. Either there is no system to maintain periodical accounts or the accounts have been doctored with in order to evade taxes.

Self employed loans UK have tried to assimilate the distinctness posed by the self employed people. By making certain changes to loan terms, an attempt has been made to tap into the sizable group of self employed people. 

Self Employed loans are regular loans where the terms are flexible enough to be changed according to the borrower’s specifications. Flexibility in terms will be best seen in the repayment schedule designed. Considering that profits derived from the operations are largely irregular, borrower will be given the go ahead to pay through adjustable monthly instalments. Overpayments, underpayments, and payment holidays form some of the features of the newly designed repayment schedule.

The feature of overpayment has been rightly included in self employed loans. Regular loans may not have this feature. Lenders do not encourage overpayment on regular loans, as it will require computation of repayments every time that payments in excess of the specified amount are made. Salaried people, who form the prime customer base for regular loans, too may not be able to overpay because of their fixed incomes. There is no constraint of fixed incomes with the self employed people. At times, when the available profits are large, self employed borrowers can utilise this to reimburse a large part of the loan balance. Overpayment is an investment for the lean periods, when the borrower may not have enough profits. Certain lenders will demand overpayment in order to allow borrowers to take benefit of underpayment or payment holidays.

Underpayment, as is clear, allows borrowers to repay less than the specified monthly repayment. Borrower will have to take the consent of the loan provider before receiving benefit under this feature. Similarly, one will be eligible for payment holidays only when the loan provider has consented to it. Payment holiday refers to the period when the borrower may be allowed to discontinue with repayments altogether.

The self employed people may often face problems in getting qualified for loans because of the lack of proof of income. Irregularity of income becomes a disqualification for applicants of regular loans, often treated as a bad credit remark. Self employed loans in the UK try to ignore these and conduct loan proceedings in a manner to benefit the self employed.

Is the manner in which loan providers’ deal with self employed people an attempt to be generous? It isn’t; borrowers will have to shell a handsome sum as interest and other fees. Self employed borrowers pose a greater degree of risk. Therefore, the APR charged on self employed loans is in excess of the regular loans. However, this must not be taken as an incontestable truth. The burden of confirming that the APR is competitive and an equivalent APR would have resulted through a majority of lenders will be on the borrower himself. Since it is the borrower who finally enjoys the advantages and disadvantages of the self employed loan, he better not serve any excuses for this. Though proper search involves time, it will ensure that the loan package received is exactly what one desired.