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Loan Typical APRs
The display of Typical APR rates on sites that compare loans can be out of step with the actual rates currently being provided by loans companies. Not only is this illegal but creates a misleading situation for the ever increasing numbers of users of the flourishing comparison site market.
The regulation of loan advertising is carried out by the Office of Fair Trading, who by all accounts are overwhlemed with work and seem to be adopting a reactive rather than proactive stance at the moment.
We undertook some brief research and found that typical APR rates on 3 major comparison sites were out of date with the rates displayed on the advertiser's own sites.
Take the listing for Picture the Loan shown on Moneyfacts. The Moneyfacts page claims the typical APR for Picture loans is 7.2%, whereas the rate shown on Picture's own site was 8.4% APR
On the same Moneyfacts listing, Barclays claim their typical APR for secured loans is 7.4%, yet on the main Barclays website we found secured loans advertised with a typical APR of 7.9%.
Over to Money Supermarket and you'll find similar discrepancies. Central Capital secured loans are advertised with a typical APR of 13.4%, yet their own site shows 14%.
Just one more check on another cheap loans comparison site, Moneyexpert, and we found Welcome Finance displayed offering secured loans with a Typical APR of 18%, yet their own site has a higher rate of 20.2%.
So users should take comparison site listings for secured loans and personal loans with a pinch of salt and not rely on rates advertised until they have checked them with the loan provider directly.
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