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There are numerous ways to find loans that are right for you. Long gone are the days when we just approached our bank manager of many years standing and pleaded with him or her to lend us an amount of cash. It is not even necessary to trudge around the High Street these days to make comparisons across all of the major High Street banks. The internet has changed all that and, furthermore, there are now hundreds of additional reputable lenders as well as the more traditional High Street banks which means more competition and, consequently, even better deals for us, the consumer, as they all try to drive down the cost of their loans to remain competitive and get us to choose them as our preferred lender. Therefore, the power has truly been passed over to the consumer these days.

Best buy tables are one of the ways we can shop around to find the best deal on personal loans. These appear in most daily newspapers and are constantly updated to keep customers informed on a day-by-day basis. However, it is worth bearing in mind that not all will include things such as payment protection insurance or the avoidance of early resettlement charges and any additional fees so, like with other forms of information gathering, you should only use these tables as a guideline until you have researched a particular loan product more thoroughly.

Some people tend to become obsessed with a loan's APR when it comes to making comparisons but they shouldn't be as although the APR is a useful starting 'reference point', it often fails to paint a true picture. Instead, prospective borrowers should think more about the TAR. That is the Total Repayment Rate, which is the total cost of the loan after any additional add-on expenses are incurred.

Beware of the jargon. An independent loan broker can be very useful when it comes to getting beneath the subliminal meaning of financial terminologies. Things like taking a repayment holiday might look very appealing on paper but it can end up costing you more in the long run. Likewise, around 7 out of 10 borrowers are able to pay off their loans earlier than agreed so ensure that you choose a lender who does not penalise you for doing that.

Make sure you also understand the complete terms of any loan agreement you are considering to the utmost detail. Things such as fixed and variable interest rates should be closely looked at in terms of the overall possible cost of your loan and once again a broker can help you with that.