Aviva offers whole release loan up front

21 April 2011 | By Tom Selby

Aviva has revamped its equity-release offering to allow customers to take 100 per cent of their loan up front rather than the previous limit of 75 per cent.

Customers of its lifestyle flexible option who do not initially take up the full loan will have an automatic reserve available if they want to access the funds in the future.

Aviva’s lifestyle lump-sum plan, which the firm says offers similar features but with less flexibility, has been withdrawn. The £99 admin fee charged against the reserve for new and existing custom-ers and a £300 redemption fee for all new loans will be scrapped.

Aviva has introduced an inheritance guarantee, allowing customers taking out a lifetime mortgage the option of guaranteeing that a proportion of their property will go to their family or estate when they die or if they go into long-term care.

Head of annuities Darren Dicks says: “We have revamped and refreshed our equity-release offering. Our res- earch shows that customers want flexibility from equity release but they may not want to take the maximum amount right away.”

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