WHY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CHOOSE A COMPARISON WEBSITE WHEN LOOKING FOR FINANCE

At Smart Homes NI we believe in ethical lending. There are only 1 or 2 finance companies who will partner with home improvement businesses across Northern Ireland, and the best rate they offer is 10.9% APR.

So if a home improvement company is offering you finance that’s the best rate you’ll get, but if you find finance through a comparison website like Go Compare, you can get as low as 2.8%, saving you thousands of pounds.

That’s why we always recommend a comparison website when choosing finance

Below are a few examples:

Rate Setter – Borrow £5,000, pay it back over 5 years = £89/month (total repaid after 5 years = £5,359)

Tesco Bank – Borrow £5,000, pay it back over 5 years = £90/month (total repaid after 5 years = £5,450)

Now compare that to what you could be stuck repaying if you go with the ONE finance company your home improvement business has decided to partner with.

Borrow £5000, pay it back over 5 years = £162/month (Total repaid after 5 years = £9,763 total)

So why do Home Improvement companies partner with one single finance company?

There are 2 reasons:

  1. It allows them to offer you 0% finance for the first year
  2. The finance lender will pay the home improvement company for every customer sent their way

The reason they offer 0% interest in the first year is so they can get you stuck into large repayments after that year is over.

If you’re able to pay off the full £5,000 loan in the first year (£417/month) then great, the 0% finance will work well for you.

But if you can’t pay it off in full in that first year then you could end up paying over £9,000 total for a £5,000 loan.

If you’d prefer to have small, safe, monthly repayments (£89/month) and only pay a small amount more than your original loan over a 5 year period (£5,359 for a £5,000 loan) then you’re always better going with a comparison website.

Take your pick below:

We could have done what other home improvement companies do and promote 0% finance loans and enjoy the kickback we’d get, but we’ve decided to be totally transparent, and help you get the best possible deal at the lowest possible rate.

If you need some help finding the best deal through Go Compare or Money Supermarket, just let us know and we’ll guide you through it.