Adverse Credit
-Credit not paid or not paid at the agreed time.
Application
-Information given by a consumer disclosing their personal information and financial details.
APR
-Annual Percentage Rate. This tells the consumer the rate of interest that will be charged on your loan, taking into account the total cost of interest and other charges such as legal fees.
Arrears
-Payments by the borrower that have not been made on time. This is usually described in terms of missed payments or money.
Assets
-Anything that belongs to the debtor that may be used to pay his or her debts. I.E Property, cars, antiques.
Bad Credit
-Used to describe a person with a poor credit rating. This happens when the borrower fails to make loan or other repayments or makes them late, borrows more than they are able to repay, or have been previously declared bankrupt.
Bankruptcy
-When a person is declared insolvent because they have insufficient income and assets to properly repay their debts. Involuntary Bankruptcy is where bankruptcy is petitioned by a creditor while Voluntary Bankruptcy is when an individual petitions for their own bankruptcy.
Collateral
-Equity or security.
Commercial Loan / Business Loan
-A loan used specifically for business purposes.
Commission
-A percentage of a loan that a broker might receive for placing a loan with a lender.
Consolidation / Debt Consolidation
-Refinance of outstanding debts into a new agreement, normally done to reduce interest rates or to lower monthly repayment.
Credit Rating
-A classification of credit risk based on investigation of a customer's (or potential customer's) financial resources, prior payment pattern, and personal history or degree of personal responsibility for debts incurred.
Creditor
-Someone owed money by the individual or company that is facing insolvency or bankruptcy.
Debt
-Money owed to a financial institution or lender.
Debt Consolidation
-When a number of debts are restructured into one monthly payment ideally at a lower monthly payment then the sum of the previous payments. Debt Consolidation can be achieved a number of ways including through a loan, a re-mortgage, a debt consolidation plan, bankruptcy, or an IVA.
Debt Management
-A Debt Management Plan (DMP) is a repayment plan which helps make unsecured debt repayment more affordable. Normally a third party negotiates with your creditors to reduce your monthly payments to a more manageable level.
Debtor
-A person who is in debt or under financial obligation to another.
Defaults
-When a borrower fails to keep up with payments of a loan or mortgage they are said to have defaulted.
Equity
-The monetary value of a property or business once any amounts owed on it in mortgages, claims, and liens have been paid.
Fixed Charge
-A charge held over certain assets. The debtor is not able to sell the assets without the consent of the secured creditor.
Fixed Interest Rate
-Type of interest rate that is fixed or a set period of time. The rate may be fixed for an initial period on for the entire term of a loan.
IFA
-Independent Financial Advisor
IP
-Stands for Insolvency Practitioner. This is licensed person who specializes in insolvency, usually a solicitor or accountant.
IVA
-Stands for Individual Voluntary Arrangement. It is a government-backed scheme that enables people who are unable to meet their debt repayment in full to pay back a reduced amount. This is only open to UK residents excluding Scotland. We recommend IVA.net as a great resource for anyone struggling with debt or thinking of applying for an IVA.
Insolvent
-Not solvent; unable to satisfy creditors or discharge liabilities, either because liabilities exceed assets or because of inability to pay debts as they mature.
Insolvency
-The condition of being insolvent; bankruptcy.
Lender
-The company or institution that provides a loan/mortgage.
Liquidise
-To sell off assets.
Mortgage
-A loan that is secured against your property enabling you to purchase a residential property.
Negative Equity
-The situation where the amount owed on a mortgage is higher than the worth of the property.
Nominee
-An Insolvency Practitioner who carries out the preparatory work involved in a voluntary arrangement.
Realise
-Realising an asset means selling it or disposing of it to obtain money. For example: to sell an insolvent’s assets to raise proceeds.
Recuperate
-To recover losses/debt.
Remortgage
-Where an existing mortgage is replaces with a new mortgage, which can often enable part of all of the equity in the property to be released. The new mortgage then pays off the existing mortgage and can also provide additional funds quite often used for debt consolidation or things like home improvements. A re-mortgage is also used sometimes to move to a lender that charges a lower interest rate than the original lender was charging.
Release
-The process by which the Official Receiver or an IP is discharged from the liabilities of office as liquidator/trustee or administrator.
Secured Creditor
-A creditor who holds security (such as a mortgage) over a person’s assets for money owed.
Security
-Is an item of value pledged by a borrower to a lender as part of the terms of the loan. In the event that a borrower does not make agreed repayments a lender may sell the asset to recover the money.
Settlement Figure
-The total amount needed to repay the loan during the contracted term.
Tenant
-A person that does not own a home but instead pays rent to a landlord. This will also include people that live with their parents.
Unsecured Creditor
-A creditor who doesn’t hold security, such as a mortgage, for money owed.
Unsecured Loan
-A loan that doesn’t require security. This may because the borrower has a good financial position or credit rating.