Hello everyone,
Today I am writing to tell you about my collaboration with Comhar Linn. If you follow my social media channels you will know that we are having our attic converted to a playroom/ office for me. Tom works from home now, so he has commandeered the study area in our house. My desk used to be in the spare room, but that is now our daughter’s room, so I have nowhere to work from. I hold live webinars regularly, record courses, write books etc so I do need a designated work area. I went to view a few attic renovations on our estate, and I was very impressed with them. We then started pricing around and realised that we would have to wait months because builders are so busy. Then, in an exciting turn of events, a local builder had a cancellation, and we got a slot!
It meant moving quickly in terms of getting a loan though. I checked the interest rates of a few different places, my own bank had quite a high interest rate, but I was going to go with them because I thought it would be the fastest way. I then checked the Comhar Linn website, and I gave them a call. I was interested because the interest rate for the home improvement loan interest rate is 6.5 % with Comhar Linn, whereas the interest rate with my bank was 8.65%. The difference between the rates was actually a lot over five years. I was delighted when after speaking to them on the phone I realised that they would let you know quickly whether you got the loan or not. So, then I set up my online access via the app which I downloaded. I uploaded my payslip and bank statements, and proof of ID and applied for the loan.
I received loan approval within a couple of days, and we were able to start the attic then straight away. I was very impressed with the whole process, the main points being that:
- The staff I dealt with were incredibly helpful and friendly, and easy to get through to over the phone and by email.
- The interest rate was very competitive.
- The process was fast and efficient, and the app makes it very easy to keep track of everything, I would really recommend downloading the app, it is very useful.
- The website is also very user friendly and transparent.
- I like how the repayments can be taken at source from your payslip, or through direct debit, depending on which suits you best.
- There is also a loan calculator to see the overall cost of your loan when comparing to other financial institutions (it is easy to see repayments on various loan amounts, and easy to see overall interest you’ll pay)
- New members can apply as soon as they join – there is no waiting period
- The amount you can borrow is not based on your savings but rather on your ability to meet the repayments
- Loan approval in principal is very fast (less than 24 hours usually) but it may take slightly longer if you are waiting for verification that you are in a permanent position – get that first and loan approval is even faster!
Here is a link to the Comhar Linn website if you want to have a look. https://comharlinnintocu.ie/loans