Adverse Credit

If a borrower has a history of poor credit usage then this is described as Adverse Credit. Poor Credit history can include County Court Judgements(CCJ), Bankruptcy, Mortgage arrears or any late payments on credit arrangements.

APR

Abbreviation for the 'Annual Percentage Rate' figure which indicates the total amount of interest that will be paid over the whole term of the loan.

Arrears

This describes the amount the borrower is behind in their loan repayments schedule. The amount is usually measured in either pounds or months.

County Court Judgements (CCJ)

An adverse ruling by a County Court against a person who has not satisfied their debt payments with their creditors. Once the ruling has taken place it will be recorded against the persons credit history and will appear every time a credit search is done for the next seven years. If a person has a County Court Judgement against them it will have to be satisfied before they can get a mortgage. They will also find that the mortgages they can get will be at a higher interest rate.

Default

Failure of an individual to make payments on a mortgage at the correct time or to not comply with the mortgage companies requirements.

Payment Protection Plan

Insurance that can be purchased with a loan to ensure that if you are unable to make payments through no fault of your own, for example through disability or redundancy, the payments will be made for you. N.B. The terms and conditions of this form of insurance can vary considerably. Read them carefully before committing yourself. The examples of disability and redundancy given here are for illustrative purposes only.

Repayment Insurance

See 'Payment Protection Plan'