Moneyextra “simplifies secured loans”

Financial website Moneyextra.com has claimed that many British people take on loans without fully understanding the nature of the product and has consequently revamped its secured loans comparison tool.

The website has also launched a guide to secured loans, which it says is "written in plain English".

Explanations offered by Moneyextra’s guidance will cover exactly what a secured loan is, what it is likely to cost, what its advantages and disadvantages are and what alternatives are available.

Robin Amlot, senior editor of Moneyextra, said: "It’s important that people understand exactly what they’re taking on.

"A recent survey by Citizens Advice underlines the lack of knowledge among consumers with more than one in ten thinking they can miss payments on secured loans but that ‘their home will always be safe’ – this just isn’t the case."

According to the website, there has been a boom in the secured lending market recently, with growth running at 50 per cent for the early years of the 21st century and creating a market worth £32.6 billion by 2004.