18 April 2006
The UK's DIY enthusiasts could save nearly £5,000 by choosing a personal loan to pay for their home improvements, rather than opting for the point of sale finance option.
According to Alliance & Leicester, a third of consumers making a big purchase such as double glazing or a new kitchen opt for point of sale credit schemes.
Although it found that 36% of those asked were using the credit schemes because they thought they were a competitive deal, they could actually be paying as much as £4,808 over the odds when compared to the rates of interest charged on some personal loans.
Claire Alvey, personal loans manager for Alliance & Leicester, said: "Our obsession with DIY and home improvements is obviously not waning. Yet, despite the efforts we put into making our homes stylish and picking out the right colour samples, we still aren't putting the same effort into getting a good finance deal.
"By signing up to retailers' finance deals, consumers could find themselves painted into a corner and heavily out of pocket."
Some double glazing companies were found to charge up to 20% APR on their finance deals, with major kitchen suppliers charging nearly 15%.
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