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What Is The Difference Between An Unsecured Personal Loan And A Secured Personal Loan?

Written by Toi Williams on Dec 29th, 2010 | Filed under: loans

There are two types of personal loans that you can obtain as an individual. The first is a secured personal loan, and the second is an unsecured personal loan. A secured personal loan is a loan that you get with collateral, and therefore is a much easier loan to get as a result. The reason for this is that they know they can get back their money with the collateral by selling it, so the risk is much lower.

An unsecured personal loan is one that does not have the backing of collateral.  These loans are much harder to get and are based on your credit rating. As a result, you may have to pay higher interest rates for an unsecured personal loan with credit that is not perfect.  Typically, an unsecured personal loan will leave the individual responsible for repaying the loan, but there will be a personal guarantee from the individual that they will repay the loan in a manner that matches the terms of the personal loan.

What Are The Risks?

The borrower’s risk is lower with an unsecured personal loan because if they do not pay back the loan, the only damage that they suffer will be to their credit rating.  With no collateral backing the loan, the borrower will not lose any of their personal property in the event of a default on the loan.  The borrower’s credit score will be reduced by a significant amount, but over time the credit score can be repaired and restored to its former heights.

A good way to display the difference between a secured personal loan and an unsecured personal loan is with an example. If you borrow money from a friend and they tell you that they will hold on to your laptop as collateral until you repay the money, then you know that if you don’t pay them back within a reasonable period of time, you will lose your laptop. Your friend knows that if you do not pay back the loan, they will not have their money but they will have a new laptop. However, if you borrow money from a friend and they do not require you to give them anything for collateral, then if you do not pay back the loan you will not have to give up your personal property.


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