Can You Get A Loan If You Have Savings You Can't Touch?

[sten102]

My friend has no income and is broke right now BUT he has £70,000 in a fixed rate bond which he CANNOT touch until it ends in nine months time. He can't get any benefits because of his savings, and he is getting into various debts. What can he do to borrow some money until the bond expires - e.g. will he be able to get a loan, showing the bond details as collateral? Thank you.

[woofgang]

in principal, yes, he should be able to do that. He may have to sign the bond over to the loaner though.

[factor-fiction]

Can he definitely not touch the bond, or is it just that he'll lose some or all of the interest?

[factor-fiction]

If the savings cannot be touched and do not deliver any interest before maturity then maybe he should query why the DWP uses these savings to refuse benefits. It's a bit like saying you can't get means tested benefits if you have a pension pot you can't touch yet or have a house or car you could sell

[sten102]

No he definitely cant access the money at all, even with penalties. It's with Shawbrook. I just had another thought - would he be able to get a 0% credit card (there are some for 18 months at 0%), or would he be ineligible due to his debts/lack of income?

[black_cat51]

you still have to pay the minimum payment every month, even on a 0% card (and of course you have to pay loan payments too)
Pretty hard to do with no income