Helpful information about your loan and important contact details.
One of the main features of your Lifetime Mortgage is the ability to make voluntary partial repayments without incurring any Early Repayment Charges.
The key details to remember are:
Please note:
If you take out multiple loans with us, such as Drawdowns or Further Advances, you can inform us as to which tranche of borrowing you wish the repayment to be made by quoting the exact Mortgage Account Number as the payment reference. In the absence of any instruction from you, all repayments will be made against the oldest loan first.
If you wish to repay your Lifetime Mortgage in full, you must contact us prior to making a redemption payment to ensure we receive the correct redemption amount, including any fees.
Repayments are not required as part of your Lifetime Mortgage, as the balance along with interest and charges is typically repaid from the proceeds of the sale of the property. If you wish to find out further information regarding your ability to do so, please contact our Customer Service Team on 0330 124 3914 and select Option 4.
Please contact our Customer Service Team if you wish to apply for a Drawdown. Our team will help you through the next steps and are happy to answer any questions you may have. Each Drawdown request must be more than £2,000. If you have less than £2,000 available in your facility, you must take the remaining amount in one draw.
When you apply for a Drawdown, one of our specialists will process your application and will then send your offer pack out to you within four days. The interest rate is based on your total mortgage balance, including the interest rollup, the value of your property, your age and the additional amount you wish to borrow.
There is no obligation to accept your offer once you receive it.
We may also reach out to your Financial Adviser to help support your application.
The interest rate could be higher or lower than the rate on the initial loan and is always offered on the prevailing rate at the time you apply for a Drawdown. Your initial loan will remain on a fixed rate and your Drawdown will also be subject to a fixed rate.
Each Drawdown will be classed as a unique borrowing and the interest will roll-up separately. Your Drawdown will have its own Early Repayment terms and will be included in any outstanding balance figures you receive.
On average, your application should take around four weeks to complete, providing that all documentation has been received on time. Your Drawdown offer expiry date can be found on the second page of your offer document. If you suspect that you might be delayed in returning the offer within this time period, please contact our Customer Service Team.
Please note that a Drawdown is not guaranteed and is subject to both Lending Criteria and our Terms and Conditions.
If you need additional funds but do not have a Drawdown product, or if you don’t have any facility left, please contact your Financial Adviser to discuss the option of a further advance. Alternatively, you can speak with Customer Service. They will be able to help organise an appointment with a Financial Adviser.
With all our Lifetime Mortgages, you have the right to move to a new property. If you choose to move home, you may be able to transfer your Lifetime Mortgage over to your new home, subject to Lending Criteria. Please contact our Customer Service Team via email at customer.support@responsiblelending.co.uk to discuss this further.
The process of porting the Lifetime Mortgage can take up to 12 weeks from application to completion. This is usually due to solicitor’s checks. We recommend that you inform us as soon as possible, so we have ample time to factor in any additional checks or searches that may be needed on the new property.
If you wish to move to a new property and transfer your Lifetime Mortgage, please contact our Customer Service Team, who will explain the next steps. Our team will arrange for the new property to be valued and review this in line with our Criteria at that time. If we deem the new property to be suitable, you can transfer your Lifetime Mortgage to this property without incurring Early Repayment Charges.
An application fee of £500 will need to be paid when you return a completed application form. You will also be asked to pay for the valuation of your new property. The valuation fee will depend on the value of the property and we will confirm the amount at the time of application.
For a full list of our fees, please refer to our Tariff of Charges included in your Welcome Pack.
If your new property does not meet our Lending Criteria and you would still like to move to that property, we will waive any Early Repayment Charges, assuming that your Lifetime Mortgage has been open for a period of at least five years. Otherwise, you will have to repay the amount you owe us and any applicable Early Repayment Charges. If you decide to select a different property, we will not charge you another application fee if you apply again within 6 months.
If you transfer your mortgage to a property of a lower value than your current property, you may need to repay part of the outstanding amount. This is to ensure that the loan to value on the new property matches that of the initial borrowing.
If you have any additional queries regarding moving property and transferring your Lifetime Mortgage, contact the Customer Service Team. You may also want to speak to your Financial Adviser to discuss any changes to your Lifetime Mortgage before you begin.
By making partial repayments to your Lifetime Mortgage, you can help to reduce the roll-up of interest. That means there will be more money left over when your property is sold.
If you started with a Loan Amount of £80,000 on an interest rate of 5% with a term of 15 years.
Your End of Term Balance with no repayment made would be £169,096.26.
Your End of Term Balance after repaying £100 per month would be £142,368.75.
The difference in interest roll up is £26,727.51, resulting in an overall saving of £8,727.51.
This example is for illustrative purposes only. We recommend checking Section 8 of your Offer Document for your correct compound interest figures. If you want to check how much regular payments could reduce your final loan amount, please contact your Financial Adviser. Please note, repayments are voluntary and not required by your lender.
Once your account is open, the Customer Service Team are your first point of contact. We are here to guide you through your Lifetime Mortgage and to make the journey as smooth as possible.
There’s a wealth of financial knowledge and experience in the team, which we look forward to exercising when you get in touch. You can contact us from Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays, by email, phone and post.
The Customer Service Team are dedicated to supporting you and are on hand to help with any questions you may have. They are available to contact Monday to Friday 9am-5pm, excluding Bank Holidays.
You can email us on any day at any time and we’ll aim to respond to your email as soon as possible.
Email us on:
customer.support@responsiblelending.co.uk
You can all us on our freephone number from your landline or mobile. We’re open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays.
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Typically homeowners aged 55 and over may be eligible for Lifetime Mortgages. You must own your own home and it must be worth at least £125,000. You may not be eligible for equity release if you own a leasehold property with less than 100 years before the lease expires unless extra years can be purchased. Freehold flats and maisonettes or registered smallholdings also may not qualify. Speak to your financial adviser to find out if you qualify for a Responsible Lending Lifetime Mortgage.
All financial decisions may come with an element of risk. When releasing equity, the value of your estate will be reduced and your entitlement to means-tested benefits may be affected. Speaking to an adviser is the best way to understand the risks and the available features to help mitigate these.
It is a condition of our Lifetime Mortgages that any outstanding mortgage is repaid. However, the equity you release can be used for this purpose and it is one of the most common reasons people unlock wealth from their homes. Bear in mind that this will reduce the amount available to you but may save you money every month on mortgage payments, which can then be put to other uses.
You will be able to stay in your home. Provided that you abide by the terms and conditions of your equity release plan then you are guaranteed to carry on living in your home for as long as it remains your primary residence.
The sum outstanding from the equity release plan will usually be repaid from the sale proceeds of your property and the remainder goes to your estate. Where your representatives, such as children or other beneficiaries of your estate have not sold the home typically within 12 months of your death, Responsible Lending may reserve the right to become more involved in the sale of the property and deduct the costs of the sale from the amount due to your estate. Members of your family are welcome to clear the balance of the equity release through other means, such as a mortgage, so they keep the property in the family.
We work with trusted third-party funders, who set the interest rates that you are provided with on all initial loans and further borrowing. We also work with our funders to create our Lending Criteria, which is used to ensure the Lifetime Mortgage is appropriate for your circumstances and your property.
With all of our plans, you are able to move home and take the plan with you to the new home, provided it meets our property criteria. For further information, please see the Moving Home drop down section above on this page.
Yes, with all of our products you are able to make repayments to reduce the total cost of your loan. For further information about this, please refer to the Making Repayments section on this page.
Your interest rate on your initial advance will be fixed at the time that you take out your Lifetime Mortgage and is guaranteed to remain the same for the duration of your loan.
If you have a Drawdown, your interest rate will be set at the time of each release and it will be based on your total mortgage balance, including the interest roll-up, the value of your property, your age and the additional amount you wish to borrow.
Our team will book in a time to contact you, to confirm your interest rate and gain your agreement before we issue you with an offer. For more information on Drawdowns please refer to the above section "If you have a Drawdown product.
You must tell us if you wish to structurally alter, extend, or convert the Property. We will not unreasonably prevent you from making changes to your property, but you must provide us with evidence that any changes you intend to make do not adversely affect the value of the Property, meet all the relevant laws and are carried out to an acceptable standard including meeting planning permission and building standards.
You should not commence any such changes without our written permission. You will be responsible for paying for the reasonable cost of preparing any plans or reports required by us and all the expenses, including ours, even if we do not give permission.
You will continue to be responsible for the ongoing maintenance of your property. We will be reasonable and not expect you to maintain the Property to a standard that exceeds the condition at the time we valued the Property, unless your Offer was conditional on essential repairs being carried out.
You must carry out any essential repairs required by us as a condition of your Offer by the date set by us. Please see the special conditions in your Offer.
You must not leave the Property for a continuous period of two months or more without our permission. If you are planning a trip which is longer than 2 months, you must inform us before you leave and provide us with a copy of your Home Insurance which states the property is covered for this time.
If your holiday is less than 2 months in duration there is no need to let us know.
We will also ask you if the property is being looked after while you are gone. This is to ensure that if an unexpected event were to occur, such as a leak or fire, someone is able to inform you and us. We may ask for their contact details, and we do ask that you let them know you have a Lifetime Mortgage before you leave in case, they need to contact us.
If you need additional funds but do not have a Drawdown product, or if you don’t have any facility left, please contact your Financial Adviser to discuss the option of a further advance. Alternatively, you can speak with Customer Service. They will be able to help organise an appointment with a Financial Adviser.
In April 2023, Responsible Lending launched into the wider Lifetime Mortgage market as exclusive providers of the Royal London Equity Release product range. Combining our industry expertise with the legacy of a time-honoured brand, we are confident that this exclusive range of products will provide consistently outstanding service and flexible underwriting criteria to customers across the UK.
All incoming mail to Responsible Lending is handled by a professional mail company and sent to us in a digital format. This is the best and quickest way for us to receive your correspondence. It also ensures that your documents and certificates are kept safe and secure, so we can spend more of our time responding to you.
