Kensington to enter Secured Loans Market
With the arrival of Kensington Group PLC (KGN) we have a new entry on the list of quoted UK companies dealing in secured loans. There doesn’t appear to have been a stock market announcement, but Kensington has said they will enter the second charges market with the launch of Kensington Personal Loans (KPL).
Kensington has said, KPL will set new industry standards and offer market leading products to a range of borrowers, from near prime to unlimited adversity, with criteria such as self-certification up to 90% LTV for clients with arrears and loan amounts up to £100,000.
The products will initially only be available via a small number of packagers, so that Kensington can monitor and maintain its high service standards, before a full roll-out in the near future. They will include features such as no minimum trading levels for self certification, self-employed borrowers and a self-certified option for employed borrowers on up to 20% of earnings.
Alison Hutchinson, Managing Director of Kensington Personal Loans, said: “A decade ago, Kensington Mortgages pioneered a new way of lending for the first charge market and now we are taking this approach to support the transformation of the secured loan sector. Our products have been designed to meet the needs of our customers, resulting in unique features on both our secured loan and related insurance products, including no minimum trading for self certification, self-employed applicants and self certification for employed applicants. Our service is built on Kensington’s high standards and focuses on speed of decisions and pay out, with dedicated relationship underwriters and same day payment to customers. In addition we are seeking to lead the way in preparing for future regulation and we will be the only player in our market to move to 1+1 redemption charges across our full range of loan products, as well as features such as “back to day one” benefits on our insurance products”.
There is said to have been high demand and interest from intermediaries, with many involved in discussions that have shaped Kensington and KPL’s initial secured loan offerings.
