People compare interest rates and stop there. The fees are a smaller number that arrives much sooner, some are payable even if the plan never completes, and anything added to the borrowing compounds like everything else.
Five or six separate charges, some payable whether or not it completes. Here is what each one is for and which ones you can ask about.
Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage, secured against your property, or a home reversion plan. It will reduce the value of your estate and impact funding long-term care.
People compare interest rates and stop there. The fees are a smaller number that arrives much sooner, and some of them are payable even if the plan never completes.
Ask for the total in writing, and ask specifically which of them you would still owe if you changed your mind after a valuation.
Nothing by you. The adviser pays us a commission only if a case completes, and that disclosure appears inside the enquiry form itself because the rules require it there.
How we are paid →Charged by the adviser for advice and arranging the plan. Ask how it is calculated, when it is due, and whether it can be added to the borrowing rather than paid up front.
Questions worth asking →For the surveyor who visits. Sometimes paid by the lender, sometimes by you, and usually payable whether or not the plan proceeds.
How a valuation works →Your own independent solicitor, which is a requirement rather than an option. A separate bill from a separate firm.
The solicitor stage →Charged by the lender on some products. It may be added to the borrowing, in which case it compounds like everything else.
How to read an illustration →A fee paid up front costs what it says. A fee added to the borrowing costs that plus twenty years of interest on it, and the difference is not small.
How the interest rolls up →An adviser must give you an illustration setting all of this out. Three things to look for in it, in order.
What any of it will cost you. Fees differ by adviser, by lender and by product, and our own advice fee is shown in brackets throughout this site because it has not been confirmed. A bracketed figure means unverified, and we would rather show you that than a number we made up.
Advice is required to proceed with equity release and there may be other options which better suit your circumstances. Only if your case completes would an advice fee be payable, and the adviser will tell you what theirs is before you commit to anything. Other lender and solicitor fees may apply.
What is the total of every fee, added up?
One number. Five separate lines are much easier to underestimate.
Which of these do I owe if I change my mind after the valuation?
The question people wish they had asked. Get it in writing.
Which fees are being added to the loan?
Anything added compounds for the life of the plan. Paying it up front is often much cheaper.
Is your advice fee negotiable, or fixed?
A fair question and one that is rarely offensive to ask.
Short answers to the things that come up most. None of it is advice, and every figure on this page carries its source.
People compare rates and stop there. The fees are a smaller number that arrives much sooner, and some of them are payable even if the plan never completes.
Five or six, depending on the plan. The illustration your adviser must give you sets all of them out in one place.
Ask for the total in writing, and ask specifically which of them you would still owe if you changed your mind after a valuation. That second half is the one people do not think to ask.
No, because they differ by adviser, lender and solicitor, and we do not publish figures we cannot source. Yours are in your illustration.
Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage, secured against your property, or a home reversion plan. It will reduce the value of your estate and impact funding long-term care.
One qualified equity release adviser. They will go through your figures and tell you if there is a better answer. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and Vimeo. Say no and none of them loads. What each one stores, and what Microsoft use theirs for.