I just want to inform Careys’ customers of a new rule that has been introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority and came into effect on March 19th this year.

The new rule has been introduced to give customers more information on the alternatives to refinancing a loan. Refinancing a loan is when a customer pays off the balance outstanding on one loan with some of the cash received from a new loan.

Under the new rule, Careys’ agents will be required to show the customer a written statement of the costs of refinancing their current loan when compared with the option of taking out a new loan, which is known as a concurrent or parallel loan.

The written statement will show you the amount of interest saved by taking out a concurrent loan rather than refinancing. It will also display the increase there would be to your weekly payment by having two loans running concurrently.

This doesn’t mean that customers can automatically have two loans. Careys must make sure customers can afford the increased weekly payment through an affordability assessment and any increase in credit limit can only be authorised where there are very low arrears on the account.

I think this is an excellent rule that will help Careys’ customers understand more clearly the options open to them.

All Careys’ agents have been trained to provide this information and will ensure this option is made available to you as and when required.

If you have any questions or suggestions about how we can improve our service, please contact me on [email protected].

Phil Carey, Chief Executive