ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE PRODUCT BROCHURE

Transcription

1 seeing retirement differently seeing retirement differently ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE CELEBRATING CELEBRATING YEARS sin ce YEARS sin ce

2 WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT? This document is designed to give you an overview of Partnership s Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage. You should seek Financial Advice and discuss your plans with anyone who may be affected by your financial decisions. Before you make a purchase, you should read this brochure and all other related literature, including your Key Facts Illustration, and clarify any questions you may have. ABOUT PARTNERSHIP Partnership is the longest established UK insurer specialising in the design of financial products for people whose health and lifestyle mean that their life expectancy is likely to be reduced. We cater for clients with a wide variety of health conditions, from the relatively minor such as high blood pressure, to the more serious such as heart failure, stroke, diabetes, kidney failure and cancer. By looking at every aspect of our clients health we aim to deliver the maximum benefit we can. We also offer products for people whose lifestyle choices may impact their life expectancy, such as smoking. We believe that our 20 years of accumulated data and knowledge give us a unique understanding of the impact of health and lifestyle choices on longevity. This, in turn, enables us to offer the most accurate assessment of a client s life expectancy rather than the average and so can usually offer better value than a mainstream provider. Finding the financial solution which most closely fits your needs is complex. That s why we believe our clients should benefit from professional advice when making financial decisions about their future. CONSIDERING A LIFETIME MORTGAGE Like many people in or near retirement, you may find you re well off on paper but less well off in practice. It s not that you don t have the money it s just that most of it is tied up in your home. This can be a dilemma if you need to free up some of this wealth but don t want to sell your home. A lifetime mortgage is a special type of mortgage for people in or near retirement that offers a way of releasing some of the equity built up in the home. Like any other mortgage, it s a loan secured against the property and interest is accumulated but the difference is that you don t have to repay any of the loan or accrued interest during your lifetime, so it s not a drain on your income. The interest rate you pay is fixed for the lifetime of the mortgage. You can use the money however you wish: perhaps you have plans to travel or just want to maintain the lifestyle you enjoyed when you were earning a regular income. If you re not as mobile as you used to be, you could use the money to adapt your property to make your life more comfortable. Whatever you d like to use the money for, taking out a Partnership Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage can offer a more flexible way of planning for the future, allowing you the freedom to enjoy your retirement without having to sell your home. This is lifetime mortgage. To understand the features and risks please ask for personalised illustration. This can be obtained from suitably qualified Financial Adviser.

3 CONTENTS 04 THE PARTNERSHIP ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE 06 RISKS TO CONSIDER 07 MEMBERSHIP OF THE EQUITY RELEASE COUNCIL 08 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 14 A GUIDE TO THE PROCESS 15 FURTHER INFORMATION This is lifetime mortgage. To understand the features and risks please ask for personalised illustration. This can be obtained from suitably qualified Financial Adviser.

4 THE PARTNERSHIP ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE The Partnership Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage is no ordinary lifetime mortgage There are two features of the Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage which distinguish it from most other products available in the market. Increasing the amount you can borrow to reflect your health The Partnership Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage has been designed specifically for people living with health problems. If you re over age 65 and suffering from ill health and your life expectancy is likely to be reduced as a result, we can offer you a higher lump sum because we consider your health and lifestyle as well as your age. When there are two applicants and both are over age 65 we take both of your details into account so we can often offer higher loans even where one of the applicants is in good health. EXAMPLE Mr Jones is aged 65 and lives in a house worth 200,000. Based on his age alone, the best standard loan would be a maximum of 60,000*. However, Mr Jones has high blood pressure and heart disease so Partnership would be able to offer him a total of 77,000 a 17,000 increase*. Sources: *Best standard loan, the Exchange; enhanced loan from Partnership; both as at November For illustration purposes only. Protecting an inheritance If you want to provide your family with an inheritance, Partnership s Inheritance Protection feature enables you to protect part of your property s value to leave to your heirs. You must choose to release less than the maximum loan available to you, so that a percentage of your property s value will be free of the mortgage no matter how long you live. Your adviser will be able to discuss this important feature with you. EXAMPLE Mr and Mrs Johnson can borrow up to 100,000 from their property. They decide that they only want to release 60,000. As this is 60% of the maximum available they are able to protect 40% of their home s value as an inheritance. This means that when their property is finally sold at least 40% of the property s value will be available for their estate. 04 ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE

5 Features of the Partnership Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage The minimum loan is 25,000. There are no arrangement, valuation or completion fees on the initial loan. You will be charged a fixed rate of interest for the life of the loan. The rate will be shown in your personalised illustration and confirmed in your offer. You do not have to make any repayments in your lifetime unless you go into Long Term Care. You can apply for additional borrowing ( Further Advances ) of 10,000 or more after six (6) months if you wish. See Can I borrow more money at a later date? on page 11 for further details. You continue to own your own home and can live there until you die or go into Long Term Care. When you die or go into Long Term Care the loan plus interest and charges will need to be repaid usually from the sale of the property. A No Negative Equity Guarantee means that the amount you repay (including accrued interest, charges and all sale costs) will never be greater than the sale proceeds no matter what happens to interest rates or house prices. So there s no risk of you passing on any debt to your family. You can repay the loan at any time but you may have to pay an early repayment charge. See page 11 & 12 for further details. Eligibility Your adviser will check that both you and your property are eligible before recommending the Partnership Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage to you. To do this they will need to ask you a short series of simple questions about your health and your home. Considerations Before taking out a lifetime mortgage it is important that you understand the options available to you. These are some of the key considerations: Are there any suitable alternatives? Moving to a less expensive property or applying for government or council grants to fund the cost of repairs. Is a lifetime mortgage the right product? Interest may have a long time to build up meaning the amount owed is larger than you expect. Are you happy with the Terms and Conditions of the mortgage? If you don t follow the Terms and Conditions it may mean you have to sell your property earlier than planned. What is the impact on my tax or benefits? The mortgage could affect your right to State benefits. Ask your adviser about the impact on your personal circumstances. It s vital that you read the risks on page 6 and make sure you understand them before making any decisions to take out a lifetime mortgage. If you re uncertain about anything, speak to your adviser. ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE 05

6 RISKS TO CONSIDER Applications On a joint application, if the other borrower has a longer life expectancy than you e.g. is younger and/ or healthier, you ll get a smaller loan than if it were just you applying (see What happens with a joint application? on page 9). Tax and benefits The loan could affect your right to State benefits or other concessions such as Council Tax benefits, tax credits and Pension Credit. It is important to note that your estate is likely to be substantially reduced as a result of taking out a lifetime mortgage, which could have an impact on any Inheritance Tax (IHT) payable on your estate. Laws governing taxation change frequently and there could be additional taxes introduced in the future for which you could become liable. Make sure you re fully aware of prevailing taxation laws, particularly if you choose to apply for additional borrowing. You should talk to your adviser or solicitor if you are in any doubt. Tax is subject to change and depends on individual circumstances. Interest and charges If you die within a short time of taking the loan, if you take out a small loan, or if the loan is repaid early, it might not offer good value for money because of the charges. As you don t need to pay anything back during your lifetime, the interest has more time to build up, so it will cost more in the long run than paying the interest as you go. If interest rates fall in the future, you won t get the benefit because you re on a fixed rate. You can pay back the loan and interest early but there could be a substantial early repayment charge (see pages 11 & 12 for details). Switching to another lender may be difficult, as they may not be able to offer you the same amount of cash. Terms and Conditions The Terms and Conditions are included in the Offer of Loan document and you need to ensure you re familiar with them before you proceed. Failure to continue meeting the Terms and Conditions of the loan could result in the sale of your property. Your solicitor will advise you on this. The property must be your main residence and you cannot leave it unoccupied for more than one month without our consent. If you want to move home you can transfer the loan to your new property but only if the new property is acceptable to us. If you decide to move home and the new property is ineligible, or if its value is too low, you will have to repay some or all of the loan. This may be difficult if you ve already spent the money loaned to you. If you go into permanent Long Term Care, and are the only applicant still living in the property, you will have to repay the loan, interest and charges. This will normally mean you have to sell the property. Full Terms and Conditions are issued with each Offer of Loan but you can ask your adviser if you would like to see them now. 06 ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE

7 MEMBERSHIP OF THE EQUITY RELEASE COUNCIL We realise that releasing equity from your home is a serious undertaking involving a wide number of considerations. We want to provide our customers with peace of mind and are members of the Equity Release Council (ERC 1 ) (formerly Safe Home Income Plans which was launched in 1991). The ERC promotes standards for equity release plans and the interests of consumers via an industry code of conduct. This provides our customers with the following assurances: 4 The 4 A 4 The 4 Fair, 4 Financial 4 Independent right for you to remain in your property for the rest of your life. No Negative Equity Guarantee. freedom to move to suitable alternative property without financial penalties. simple and complete presentation of a plan. advice from a fully qualified adviser. legal advice from the solicitor of your choice. No matter what happens to property prices or interest rates, you have the right to remain in your home for as long as it is your main residence. You will never have to pay back more than the value of your home and there will be no debt left to your estate. If you want to move to a new property in the future, you can transfer our plan to your new home, provided it meets our criteria at that time. You will need to pay the costs involved in any such move including a valuation fee on the new property, legal fees and estate agents fees. All product terms such as benefits, limitations and risks are clearly set out in the literature, including all costs that you have to pay when setting up the plan. We only accept applications from advisers who are suitably qualified, have fully advised you on the options available and explained the impact a plan may have on any entitlement to state benefits or tax. Before your plan is formally completed, your solicitor will be provided with full details of the benefits you will receive. He or she will be required to explain the terms and conditions to you and confirm this to us in writing. 4 ERC Certificate. ERC Certificate is issued and confirms that you are aware of Terms and Conditions and the impact on your estate. 1 ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE 07

8 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS How much can I borrow? Your adviser will give you a personal illustration showing how much money you could release. This will be based on: Your estimate of your home s value Your age Our assessment of your lifestyle and health For a joint application the amount you can borrow will be based on both applicants details. How do you assess the property value? At illustration stage the property value is based on your estimate. If you decide to apply for a mortgage then we would instruct a firm of surveyors to provide a professional valuation of your home and we would use this value to provide you with a mortgage offer. The professional valuation may be different to your estimate which may mean the mortgage offer is higher or lower than the illustration. How do you assess my health? Our assessment is based on your answers to a short series of simple questions on a medical questionnaire. Once you ve answered these questions your adviser will be able to provide you with an illustration based on your circumstances. People with more severe health conditions are likely to receive more than those with minor health problems. If you decide to apply we may ask your doctor for a written medical report to confirm your answers on the medical questionnaire. If you are a smoker we may arrange for a simple non-invasive test to be carried out by a nurse at your convenience. You may be asked to undergo a telephone interview to clarify/ confirm the medical information disclosures. We will pay for any medical report or test. We will never ask you to go for a medical examination. 08 ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE

9 What happens with a joint application? If your property is in joint names you must make a joint application. We can only accept joint applications from two people, so if you own your property with more than one other person, you won t be eligible for the Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage. If you apply in joint names, we will assess both applicants. The loan amount we will offer you will be based on your combined circumstances. If the person you live with isn t already a joint owner of your property, the property must be put into joint names. If you have a joint lifetime mortgage, no matter who dies or goes into Long Term Care first, the other person can continue living in the property for the rest of their life. Putting property into joint names may have implications and legal advice should be sought before action is taken. If you re single now but later on decide to share your home (for example with a new partner or carer), you ll need to get our permission. You will have two options: Transferring the mortgage into joint names you ll need to be joint owners of the property for this to happen. The person will need to meet our eligibility criteria at the time of the application. It involves making a new loan application from which the original loan, plus built up interest and charges will be repaid. If the person has a longer life expectancy than you, you may be offered a smaller loan than before, in which case you d need to repay the difference yourself and any Inheritance Protection may be reduced. Waiver anyone aged 17 or over at the time the mortgage completes who will be living in the property and not included on the mortgage, must be able to understand the transaction involved and will be asked to sign a form of consent waiving rights of occupancy in favour of Partnership (in Scotland a signed consent will only be required if the person is your spouse or civil partner). This means that on your death, or if you move into Long Term Care, they will be required to vacate the property. It is a requirement that this person obtains independent legal advice on the transaction before they sign the form of consent. Any fees incurred must be paid by that person. If you make a joint application and later decide to separate, you should consult your solicitor, since what happens with regard to the Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage will depend on the terms of your separation. I have Power of Attorney, how do I apply? It is possible for a Power of Attorney to submit an application on your behalf. We would, however, require a copy of the applicable registered Power of Attorney document. Please note that in the case of joint applications, one borrower cannot act as Power of Attorney for the other borrower. If, subsequent to your initial application, your physical or mental health has deteriorated, your attorney may apply for a Further Advance on your behalf. Again, we would require a copy of the applicable registered Power of Attorney document. Before releasing further funds, Partnership will require your attorney to confirm that the funds are for the benefit of the homeowner. We may ask for confirmation of the purpose for which the funds will be used and to provide evidence. ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE 09

10 How long will the process take? Your adviser can prepare an illustration for you based on the answers you give about your health and property details. If you decide to apply and you re able to proceed straight away, it usually takes around seven working days for a professional valuation of your property to be carried out. When we receive the valuation we will provide you with an Offer of Loan, which will need to be accepted within twenty one (21) days, and the mortgage completed within ninety (90) days. The process typically takes eight to ten weeks from sending your application to receiving the funds. There are, however, some things that can cause delays and we can withdraw the offer at any time. Events that can cause delays in the process include mis or non-disclosure of information, legal issues such as land disputes and property ownership or delays with obtaining any medical reports from your GP. Make sure you maintain regular contact with your solicitor to keep any delays to a minimum. Will I need a solicitor? Yes. This is essential because you need independent legal advice. If you don t have one, the Law Society can put you in touch with solicitors in your local area. You can contact them at or call Whilst acting for you, the solicitor must provide us with an ERC Solicitor s Certificate, verifying that they have explained the terms of the contract to you. You ll have to pay all your own legal costs and all disbursements. What are the charges? There are no arrangement, valuation or completion fees to pay to Partnership for the initial loan. You will need to appoint a solicitor and pay their fees and all disbursements. You may also need to pay a fee to your adviser. These fees will be set out in your Illustration. We will pay our standard legal costs but there may be some additional charges that you need to pay where additional legal work is required by our solicitors. This includes costs relating to unregistered properties (or, in Scotland, Sasine Register) leasehold properties, properties to be purchased and additional telegraphic transfers. The amount of any such additional charges will be deducted from the initial advance before sending the money to your solicitor. Is commission paid to my adviser? Your adviser will be paid a commission. The amount will be set out in your Illustration. 10 ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE

11 What are the main Terms and Conditions of the Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage? Full Terms and Conditions will be provided with your Offer of loan but you can ask your adviser if you would like to see them now. Below is a guide to the basic points: Maintenance You must keep the property in a good state of repair. If you don t do this, we may arrange any necessary repairs at your expense. It may be possible to add the cost to the loan. Insurance You must keep the property insured on an inflation-linked basis for a buildings sum insured not less than that recommended by the surveyor who values your property. The policy must include loss or damage by fire and such other risks as is usual for a residential property. A copy of this insurance policy must be lodged with Partnership prior to completion. Occupancy You must let us know if your property will be unoccupied for one month or more. If you leave the property vacant for more than six (6) months without our permission, we may decide that your loan must be repaid then, rather than after your death or move into Long Term Care. Existing secured debt If you have any outstanding debt secured against the property, you must agree to repay this prior to or at completion of the Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage. It will be possible to do a simultaneous transaction so you will be able to use the loan amount to do this, if necessary. Can I borrow more money at a later date? You can apply for a further advance after six (6) months. The minimum amount is 10,000 and is subject to a new professional valuation, which you must pay for. We may also ask your doctor for another medical report, which we will pay for. Please note: The maximum will depend on your age, the value of your property and your life expectancy at that time. If you borrowed the maximum amount possible originally, then it is likely that there will not be enough value in your property to fund a further advance of at least 10,000 unless your property has significantly increased in value. The rate of interest on the further advance will be the interest rate available at the time you are offered the further advance. It may not be the same interest rate as your original mortgage. You should ask your adviser for a new personalised illustration if you want to take a further advance. Partnership has the right to decline an application for additional borrowing if your property does not meet our underwriting requirements, if you do not meet our medical underwriting requirements or if there is insufficient equity in your property. What is the early repayment charge? Your Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage is designed to be repaid when you (or both of you if there are two (2) applicants) have died or leave your home because you need Long Term Care. You may also move to another property if it meets our property underwriting criteria without paying this charge. If you repay your Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage at any time for any other reason you may have to pay a substantial early repayment charge. The early repayment charge is calculated to recover costs that we incur when setting up the lifetime mortgage together with any loss to us due to a fall in long term interest rates. It will vary according to your age(s) at the time of repayment. Can I repay part of the mortgage? You can make partial repayments at any time so long as 25,000 is left as the minimum loan balance. An early repayment charge may apply to the partial repayment. ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE 11

12 How is the early repayment charge calculated? The early repayment charge is based on the change in the interest rates on government borrowing gilts, measured using the FTSE UK Gilts 15 Year Yield Index ( Index Rate ) which will be confirmed in your Key Facts Illustration and in the Offer document. When your loan is offered, a Benchmark Rate will be set on your account. This rate will be higher than the Index Rate at the time it is set; this is to cover the costs of setting up the mortgage. If you wish to repay the loan earlier than planned, the amount of early repayment charge will depend on the difference between the Benchmark Rate and the Index Rate. If the Index is lower than the Benchmark Rate for your loan then an early repayment charge will be payable. If the Index is higher than the Benchmark Rate then no such charge is due. The early repayment charge will never be greater than 25% of the cash released regardless of movements in interest rates. Your personalised Key Facts Illustration will give full details of the basis of this charge and provide some cash examples. What if I decide to move home? You can transfer your Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage to your new home, provided you and the property meet our prevailing lending criteria at that time. You would obtain the same loan to value as if you were a new customer. If the new property isn t eligible you ll need to repay the whole loan and accumulated interest when your current property is sold. In a worst case scenario you could be left with too little capital to buy a new property. If your new property is eligible but there s insufficient value in it to cover your existing loan and accumulated interest, you ll have to pay back the difference to us from the sale proceeds of your original home and any Inheritance Protection may be lost. Under these circumstances no early repayment charge is due. If you don t want to transfer the loan and built up interest and charges to your new property, the debt must be repaid in full on completion of the sale. An early repayment charge may be payable in these circumstances. You will be liable for all fees associated with moving home. What happens if I go into Long Term Care? Your options will depend on your circumstances at the time. If you have a joint mortgage with a second person, they can continue living in the home during their lifetime. When the second person goes into Long Term Care you will have to repay the loan, accumulated interest and any charges. This is normally done from the proceeds of the sale of the property and any money left over will be yours. The early repayment charge does not apply if you sell your home because you are going into Long Term Care. There are some circumstances where you may need to go into care temporarily and want to move back into your own home at a later date. We will require confirmation from the care home that your stay is on a temporary basis. If the property will be empty while you are in temporary care, you must tell us immediately and we will make a decision on what to do with your mortgage. Each case is assessed on an individual basis. 12 ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE

13 What happens when I die? Upon your death (or in the case of joint applications, upon the death of the last survivor) the executor/administrator of your estate must notify us and the loan must be repaid, usually from a sale of the property. We must be notified of the sale price when the property is placed on the market. If the sale price is lower than the outstanding mortgage balance, we may insist on a second independent valuation and may insist the property is not sold for less than this amount. If your property is sold for more than the outstanding mortgage balance, the difference will be paid to your estate, once sale costs have been deducted. If the property is sold for less than the outstanding mortgage balance and sale costs, your estate will not have to make up any shortfall. This is the No Negative Equity Guarantee which is a very important safeguard for you and any beneficiaries of your estate and means they will never be left with any outstanding mortgage when the property is sold. Where a proportion of your property s value is covered by Inheritance Protection, your estate will retain at least that proportion of the sale proceeds. We will charge interest on the outstanding balance until it is repaid. If the property hasn t sold after six (6) months, we may also instruct an agent to help with the sale at this point. When do I have to repay the mortgage? Your Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage is repayable once you (or both of you if it is a joint mortgage) have died or left your home because you need Long Term Care. The funds to repay the mortgage will come from either the sale of your property, or other income, investments or savings. We will allow you a reasonable period from the date the repayment is due, usually up to six (6) months, in order for you or your personal representatives to take reasonable steps to arrange for the sale of the property. We reserve the right to demand immediate repayment of the Total Outstanding Loan if reasonable progress is not being made during this time. This may mean that we take over the sale of the property. ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE 13

14 A GUIDE TO THE PROCESS All correspondence relating to your application will be conducted between Partnership and your adviser enabling them to guide you every step of the way. MAKING AN INITIAL ENQUIRY You should contact your adviser in the first instance who will gather the necessary details to be able to provide you with a Key Facts Illustration. If we can t offer you enhanced terms based on the information you ve supplied, we ll tell you at this time. DECIDING TO GO AHEAD If you want to go ahead, you send us a completed Application Form. This does not commit you to the plan in any way. UNDERWRITING YOUR LOAN We instruct a qualified surveyor to value your house. We pay for this valuation. We may ask your doctor for a GP s report or you may be asked to undergo a telephone interview to confirm your answers to the medical questions. We pay for this report. If you are a smoker then we may arrange for a simple non-invasive test to be carried out by a nurse at your convenience. We pay for this test. FINAL OFFER OF LOAN If your application is successful, we will send you a mortgage Offer. It may be higher, lower or the same as the amount shown in the illustration(s) depending on the professional valuation of your house. If you accept this mortgage Offer, we will instruct our solicitor to work with your solicitor to complete the necessary legal work. COMPLETION Once all the legal work has been completed, we will pay your loan amount (net of any fees), straight into your solicitor s client account, who ll then pay you. 14 ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE

15 FURTHER INFORMATION You can find out more about equity release in the Money Advice Service fact sheet Equity Release Schemes. Ask your adviser for a copy or contact the Money Advice Service on Calls cost the same as calling an 01 or 02 number. If you have a free minutes call package, check with your provider that 03 numbers are included. Alternatively, if you have internet access, you can download a copy from Complaints If your complaint is in relation to the financial advice you received then you should contact your adviser in the first instance. If your complaint is in relation to any aspect of our products or services please contact: Complaints Team, Partnership, 1-3 Queensway, Redhill, Surrey RH1 1QT Telephone: If you are not satisfied with the way your complaint is handled, you can contact: Financial Ombudsman Service Exchange Tower London E14 9SR Telephone: calls to this number are now free on mobile phones and landlines calls to this number cost no more than calls to 01 and 02 numbers complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk Website: Making a complaint does not affect your right to take legal action. Full written details of our complaints procedure can be found at: How to contact us You can find more information about Partnership at: You can contact us by phone, fax, or in writing using the details on the back page of this brochure. ENHANCED LIFETIME MORTGAGE 15

16 Regent House, 1-3 Queensway, Redhill, Surrey RH1 1QT * *All calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. For numbers pre-fixed with 0333, local call rates apply. If you require this document in an alternative format please contact us. Partnership is a trading style of the Partnership group of Companies, which includes; Partnership Life Assurance Company Limited (registered in England and Wales No ), and Partnership Home Loans Limited (registered in England and Wales No ). Partnership Life Assurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Partnership Home Loans Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The registered office for both companies is 5th Floor, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY. ELM