Norton Financial Services has been voted as the best provider of secured loans in the UK, according to the results from the latest annual Myintroducer awards for financial services companies and loan providers.

The annual awards are based on information provided by financial intermediaries and loan brokers, based on their own personal experience of a particular company’s loan products as well as things like the level of service they provide to their customers and loan brokers.

This year, intermediaries have voted Norton Financial Services as the best secured loan lender2011 and it is the first time that the company has won this award. The award has been given due to the excellent service which has been provided to loan brokers and their customers throughout the underwriting and processing stages of applying do for a secured loan.

Norton Financial Services is a specialist lender, who deals in the secured loan and second charge loan market, with a wide range of loan products on offer at reasonable rates, good loan to value levels and the option of bad credit loans.

Norton Finance only deals with the intermediary and loan broker market and this is the only way for a potential borrower to access their secured loan products, which strengthens the argument for using the services of this type of professional adviser. Loans are available from £2,000 up to £25,000 for a term of up to 20 years.

Stephen Lawrence of Norton Finance said “I would like to thank every intermediary who voted for us. I am absolutely delighted with this award and I congratulate Norton Financial Services staff for all their dedication and hard work.”

“I believe our products are very unique to the market and our approach to common sense lending is second to none.”

For the past couple of years or so, a large percentage of home owners with a loan secured on their property have remained on their existing lender’s standard variable rate loan deal, rather than consider a remortgage, as this has often been the cheapest option for their loan, due to the low interest rates.

But as an imminent rise in interest rates from the Bank of England is looking more and more likely, many borrowers are switching their existing home owner loan, through a remortgage, predominantly to a fixed rate loan deal.

The latest figures from the Bank of England have shown that the number of remortgage cases have increased by around 35 per cent during the month of February, compared with the same time twelve months earlier, with a total of 35,725 new loans being offered, worth £4.7 billion.

The number of new loans being taken out for the purpose of house purchase, remained almost the same as previous months, as confidence remains relatively low amongst consumers, but the total number of new home owner loans and mortgages reached 102,871 new loans for a value of £11.9 billion for the month of February.

It would appear that many borrowers who have been enjoying the benefits of a cheap loan for the past two years on their lenders standard variable rate, are now wanting to tie into a relatively cheap loan deal going forward and trying to beat any increase in the base rate of interest.

Anyone who is in this situation should act sooner rather than later with regard to switching their home owner loan, as banks and building societies are likely to increase their fixed rate loan deals as a rate rise becomes more likely and once rates do rise, it could be too late to get a good cheap loan deal.

It would appear that both men and women in the UK are equally good at getting themselves into debt through things like personal loans and credit cards, but there is a distinct split in the number of those who seek professional advice on their loans and other debts.

According to a new survey from one of the UK’s leading debt charities, men are far less likely than women to seek professional advice and help when it comes to sorting out their personal loan and credit card debts.

The research found that men are less likely to go out looking for debt solutions such as a debt consolidation loan, or a debt management plan, as traditionally they regard this as being the role of the woman of the house.

The other factor in this equation is, of course, that male pride will not allow men to seek advice or help on any matter at all, as they believe that they should be able to sort out their own loan and debt problems, regardless of how much they actually know about the subject!

The survey found that men in general, have a lack of awareness and understanding of loan debt solutions and how different solutions such as debt consolidation loans and Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA’s) actually work.

Joanne Elson of the charity said “Our anecdotal evidence was that men might require a little more of a push to seek help in dealing with a debt problem and this research helps us to understand what might be behind this.”

“It is clear that many psychological and sociological factors are at play when men seek out advice.”

Anyone who has applied for a personal loan, or other form of credit over the course of the past couple of years or so, will probably be well aware of just how hard it is to be accepted for a new loan of any kind these days.

The effects of the credit crunch and banking crisis have left lenders extremely cautious about who they are prepared to offer loans to and many have tightened their lending criteria to the point where previously credit worthy individuals are no longer able to get a loan or other credit.

A recent survey has highlighted this reluctance of lenders to offer new loans to anyone other than those with a perfect credit rating.

The survey, from Moneysupermarket.com, found that somewhere in the region of 25 per cent of all personal loan and credit card applications made over the course of the last year, were rejected by the lender, either due to affordability or because of problems with the applicants credit rating.

The price comparison website has warned consumers that they should check their credit file carefully before applying for any type of loan or other credit, to ensure that everything is in order before the loan application is made.

Things such as loan arrears, or missed or late repayments on loans or credit cards, are all likely to have a negative impact on a person’s credit file and even the slightest problem could make the difference between being accepted for a loan and being rejected.

Another factor which could affect a loan application is applying for several different loans and being rejected, as this leaves a black mark on an individual’s credit file which in turn lowers their score and reduces their chance of getting the loan they want.

It is therefore essential to check your credit file before applying for a new loan and correct any problems which may be highlighted.

Last year, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) made new proposals for additional rules and regulations to regulate the home owner loan and mortgage market, as well as areas such as the secured loan market, which was previously unregulated.

Many financial experts have been arguing against the new rules, as they feel they would destroy the loans market for all but the perfect borrower and drive many specialist loan companies from the market completely.

However, the specialist home owner loan lender, Kensington Mortgages, has said that this is not the case, as the majority of loan companies have already taken on board the main proposals which have been outlined in the FSA’s Mortgage Market Review (MMR), such as banning self certification loans, restricting bad credit loans and loans on an interest only basis.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have previously warned that introducing the proposals which have been outlined in the MMR would have a severe impact on the loans market and that “huge swathes of lenders will be excluded by the MMR”

Alex Hammond of Kensington said “Most of the proposals you see being played out in the market already. Self certification loans are non existent now and interest only lenders are much more cautious now. Lenders have self regulated ahead of the regulation.”

“We support the argument that the CML has put forward but we understand that many of the high level MMR proposals are present in the market already.”

Mr Hammond also said that he believed that once interest rates start to rise again, more people will find it much harder to be accepted for the loan they require and this in turn will lead to a resurgence in the specialist lender market, which adopts a responsible attitude towards offering loans.