Secured loans are more likely to be agreed than remortgages according to secured loans distributor Smart Money Loans.

The intermediary secured loan specialist argues that the secured loan route offers a greater chance of success for clients looking to raise capital than a remortgage.

In analysing its own business over the past six months, SML’s data shows that over 67% of its DIPs for secured loans were approved nationwide, including Scotland.

Paul Crewe, director of Smart Money Loans, claimed the pendulum has swung in favour of secured loans for many reasons.

He said: “It is pretty clear from our experience that, properly presented, a secured loan is more likely to be agreed than a remortgage in today’s market. This is yet more evidence that brokers need to consider the secured loan route with as much diligence as they do for a remortgage.

“Apart from the obvious reasons where a remortgage would be inappropriate because of long standing interest only first charge or because the remortgage would be more expensive or lead to a higher overall interest rate, secured loans are fast, cheap and cost the client nothing upfront as far as charges are concerned.

“Our decision in principle ratio clearly demonstrates that at a very early stage in the process, clients are going to be able to rely on much more certainty in opting for a secured loan rather than a remortgage. With a DIP to completion time of roughly 21 days and average earnings for the broker of c. £1245, I have to ask why would they still default their clients to the remortgage route?”