My Home Finance, supported by the Department for Work and Pensions, Royal Bank of Scotland and 26 housing associations, has opened 10 branches in the West Midlands as part of a trial to curb the need for loan sharks and doorstep lenders. If sucessful the scheme could be extended to other areas and ultimately nationwide.

Currently around 2.5 million people borrow from doorstep lenders with interest rates of 200% plus. Borrowing from loan sharks, which an estimated 200,000 further people do, can be at rates over 2,000%!

Loan rates for the new organisation will be at 29.9%. This compares with credit card rates, which are considered high, of around 17%. The rate is unlikely to put people off as the scheme is designed for people who would be unlikely or unable to borrow elsewhere.

If the scheme is successful and rolls out nationally the rate could increase to 49.9% to cover costs. This looks likely to be in April next year. 

My Home Finance is also offering help with opening a bank account and debt advice for those that need it. Loans will need to be applied for in person so will only be available to local residents.

The idea seems similar in many ways to that of a Credit Union, who would normally charge interest rates below 15%, serving the local community where the big banks have let people down, leading to an increase in high rate borrowing.

A new website has been launched dealing with a range of debt solutions at Debts 2 Go. Their aim is to make it easy for anyone struggling with debt to get out of debt once and for all. Once out of debt to stay out of debt permanently.

They have a number of products available to assist:

• Debt Management plans
• Debt consolidation loans
• IVAs

The total debt and number of creditors will decide which one is best for you. In other words which debt solution will save you the most money and get you debt free in the shortest amount of time.

All applicants are welcome and Debts 2 Go also offer free debt advice to help you get out of debt and stay out. Their simple online form will literally take you one minute to complete.

Debt problems are urgent because if left untackled the debt will usually grow. Take control of your own life by seeking out a debt solution that will leave you debt free and give you, and your family, a better future.

The historically low base rate of 0.5% has been with us for quite a while now. Speculation has been that this might have to increase towards the end of this year, however an article over the weekend floated the possibility of this rate being the new norm and not needing to rise until 2014.

For anyone with a mortgage that has reduced in line with the base rate reductions that could be incredibly good news. Not such good news for savers, but the majority of people reading this blog are borrowers or potential borrowers.

Whilst lower interest rates have largely been passed on to customers in the mortgage sector in the unsecured loan sector rates remain high. Lenders are still extremely risk averse, looking for reasons to turn down loans rather than approve them.

Even if you have a good credit history finance is not easy to get and for those with poor credit it has become near impossible, save for a few niche lenders. Bad credit unsecured loans do attract very high interest rates currently to reflect the increased risk taken by lenders.

When times are difficult and loans not easy to find the best advice is to shop around. Better still use a credit broker, like ourselves, to do the hard work for you. We have a number of lenders on our books who can offer unsecured credit and finance. This is the area we specialise in.

Getting a quote from us is as easy as completing our online enquiry form, sitting back with your feet up and waiting for us to call you with our best offer. It only takes a couple of minutes to enter your details.

We match the plan with the lowest interest rate, and therefore the lowest monthly repayments, to your individual circumstances. We don't waste any time and funds can be arranged quickly for those applicants that are approved. Don't forget, you only complete one form, it takes a couple of minutes and from this you have access to a number of quotes.

£1,460 billion - a staggeringly high number but that's the collective level of UK personal debt according to July's figures. Increased cost of living and the continuing effects of the credit crunch are cited as reasons for such a large level of personal debt.

And things are likely to get worse.....with a VAT increase on the horizon and large-scale job losses expected in the public sector following the latest budget. For many people debt problems need to be faced up to now before things get too late.

If you were to lose your job tomorrow how would you cope? Do you have any savings to fall back on to keep you going? If the worst were to happen how long could you keep paying the important bills (mortgage/rent, utilities) before it all gets too much?

Getting your finances in order is never a bad thing to do. Yes it might be difficult to face, particularly if you are struggling, but putting it off will only lead to more problems down the line. Making, and sticking to, a budget that you can afford will lead to a happier future, even if it means cutting back a little in the short term.

For professional debt advice get in touch with IVA Debt Problem who can help you restructure your debts and even write-off a large proportion of them. With their help even people struggling with debts in the tens of thousands of pounds can look forward to a brighter debt-free future.

If you prefer to take out a consolidation loan we can help you with that. Consolidating lots of smaller high-interest debts with a single lower-interest loan will lead to lower monthly repayments, making it easier to manage day-to-day.

A busy day of updating all of our websites with some interesting content, news and technical improvements.

Our debt calculator at IVA Debt Problem has been amended to include debt management, as well as IVAs and debt consolidation loans. Debt management can be your best option to get out of debt problems if you have debts of less than £10,000 or less than 3 creditors. Over this and an IVA tends to be a better option as it enables you to write off a larger portion of your debt.

The car loans blog has been updated with fresh articles relating to car loans, cars and motorsport. We are broadening the website from a dedicated car loan provider website to a more general car website that also provides car loans and finance. We are also looking into providing a car loan comparison service in the near future allowing visitors to compare car loans online and select the best deal for their circumstances.

We have started a new Word Press blog which will be used to deliver up-to-the-minute news and articles relating to our websites. The Word Press platform is actually capable of providing a fully featured website. We will be exploring all of the available features as we get used to it.

The Yes Business Loans blog continues to grow. Business loans are an increasing part of our finance business as banks criteria for acceptance remains very tight making it difficult to get business finance from a high street lender. That's where a broker has the edge, dealing with multiple lenders including specialist business loan providers.

The unsecured loan side of our business continues to attract visitors and applications. We have a number of avenues for unsecured lending giving us a very good chance of success with our unsecured loan apps. Give us a try if you are looking for an unsecured loan.

It is very easy to get lured into taking out new credit cards, store cards, credit agreements etc. and before you know it you have a number of small debts which add up to quite a sum. Often you take them out with the best intentions - making full repayment each month to avoid interest charges.

But it's not always easy to keep up the good work and you slip into making minimum repayments and the debts and monthly interest start to add up. The problem with this type of credit is that it usually attracts the highest interest rates, meaning that charges can quickly escalate.

If you have a number of small, high interest rate debts you could consider an unsecured debt consolidation loan. This is likely to be at a much lower interest rate and, if you take it out over a few years (say 5 or more) the monthly repayment should be much lower than servicing your existing debt.

Make sure you cancel and cut up all of your non-essential cards once they have been paid off to avoid future temptation. You could take a little extra cash with your consolidation loan which you can spend as you please.

For people with bigger debt problems there are other options which may be more appropriate such as an IVA or debt management. Our dedicated debt website, IVA Debt Problem, can help you with free debt advice and guide you down the right path.

We have updated the unsecured loans blog section of our website. It has been redesigned to match the look and feel of the rest of the website. This means that you should be able to get to any other page with just one click.

We are also updating a number of other sites, particularly in relation to our blogs. Some of these include:

• IVA Debt Problem Blog
• Yes Business Loans Blog
• Car Loans Blog

Blogging allows us to quickly update our sites with special offers, news and views. It means we can react quickly to changing interest rates, new lenders coming on board, new products coming out etc.

People take out unsecured loans for a variety of purposes. At unsecuredcredit.co.uk we can help with every type of application from a broad spectrum of applicants. We can also offer specialist loans - for instance we have a website dedicated to secured and unsecured car loans.

Carloans.co.uk is aimed at anyone looking for finance to purchase a car or other vehicle. Any type of vehicle can be financed, not just cars but commercial vehicles, motorhomes etc. As well as information about loans the site is being expanded to include content on motorsport, car news and more with up-to-date information to be found in the new blog.

Every applicant is welcome - this includes homeowners, tenants and others. They can also offer car loans to applicants with bad credit problems so no matter what your circumstances give them a call or fill out their simple online form.

Why use carloans.co.uk? The car loans website has been around for 12 years now and is backed by Cavloans.com Ltd, a company with over 30 years history and experience in the finance sector. During this time they have seen every type of application and put in place arrangements with lenders to make it as easy as possible for applicants to get a car loan.

Getting a loan these days is not always easy, even if you have a good credit history, so if it is a car loan you are after visit the specialists and get expert help and advice. Quotes are free and without obligation.

When considering a personal loan there is a choice to be made between secured or unsecured loans. This choice is available only to homeowners, so if you are a tenant your only option is an unsecured loan. This is the first benefit of unsecured loans:

1. Unsecured loans are available to tenants

Choosing a secured loan means that the loan is tied to your property. This creates problems when you want to move house (the secured loan will need to be repayed) and also if you get into difficulties making repayments which could put your property at risk of repossession. This is the second benefit of an unsecured loan:

2. Unsecured loans are not tied to your property

Unsecured loans also have some drawbacks which you need to be aware of when making a decision about them.

3. Unsecured loans have a maximum repayment term of 7 years

For small unsecured loans this will not represent too much of a problem but if you are looking at borrowing tens of thousands of pounds, for a new extension for instance, the repayments over seven years can be huge. Secured loans can be taken over 25 years meaning that your repayments will be reduced considerably.

4. Unsecured loans usually mean higher rates

Because lenders do not have any security to back up the loan they tend to charge higher interest rates to reflect the increased risk they are taking. Even with interest base rates at their lowest rate of 0.5%, APRs on unsecured loans are incredibly high. This is a consequence of the banking crisis which also affects number 5:

5. Unsecured loans are harder to get

Lenders are being more cautious (overcautious?) about who they lend to following their past bad decisions meaning that even people with good credit histories are finding it hard to get an unsecured loan at a decent rate.

At Unsecured Credit we offer our customers a choice of secured or unsecured loans. Although the market is difficult at the moment there are signs of recovery, with more lenders getting involved, and this does mean your chances of getting a loan are increased.

Using a broker like ourselves, rather than your bank, means that you have access to a number of lenders in one go backed up by our expertise in the loan market. One phone call or completing our simple online enquiry form is all it takes to get a free, no obligation quote.

Despite historically low interest base rates the cost of unsecured loans has risen considerably. The average rate charged has increased by around 50% over the past 3 years. During the same period the Bank of England base rate has reduced from over 5% to just 0.5%.

A number of lenders have withdrawn from the market and there are a significantly reduced number of loan products available. Lenders have suffered from high arrears and default rates making their risk increase and pushing up their interest rate.

This shows the need for customers looking for unsecured loans to shop around and not to take up the first loan they are offered, particularly from their own bank or building society. Getting a range of quotes makes sense and will certainly save you money in the long run with reduced monthly repayments.

Before signing up for an unsecured loan with another provider give Unsecured Credit a chance to quote you a better monthly repayment. We cannot always beat your existing deal, but if we fail to offer you a cheaper alternative you have the peace of mind that your deal is a good one.

On the subject of interest rates, the OFT are cracking down on loan sharks and the exorbitant rates that they charge. Their new campaign targets households in areas where loan sharking is prevalent. Taking out a loan with an illegal money lender is never a sensible option and not only brings with it large bills for repayment but the possibility of violence and intimidation in the event of problems.

Taking out such a loan could lead to debt problems and often causes the household borrowing the money untold problems. Up to 165,000 households are thought to be in the grip of loan sharks currently.

If you are currently experiencing problems with loan sharks you can report them to the OFT by emailing reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk, calling 0300 5552222 or texting "loan shark" and the details to 60003.