Why this is not a logbook loan
A logbook loan and car equity release both raise money against a car. That is where the similarity ends. The legal mechanism is different, the market is different, and the cost is different by an order of magnitude. If you searched for one and landed here, this page explains which you have found.
- Logbook loan rates
- Commonly above 100%
- Indicative rate here
- 8.9%
- Mechanism
- Fixed-term secured loan
- Typical advance
- 50 to 70% of value
What a logbook loan actually is
A logbook loan is borrowing secured by a bill of sale, an instrument dating from Victorian legislation under which legal ownership of the vehicle transfers to the lender for the duration of the loan. The borrower keeps possession and keeps driving, but no longer owns the car in law until the debt is cleared.
That mechanism is the point of difference, and it is not a technicality. Because ownership has transferred, the lender’s route to recovering the car if payments stop is very much shorter than it would be under an ordinary secured loan.
Rates in that market routinely run into three figures annually. The product exists because it serves borrowers with few alternatives, and the pricing reflects that rather than reflecting the security, which is generally good.
What car equity release is instead
Car equity release, as arranged here, is a fixed-term loan secured against a car you continue to own. There is no bill of sale and no transfer of legal ownership. The lender registers an interest in the vehicle, which prevents a sale while the finance is outstanding, and that interest is released when the term ends.
The indicative rate on this site is 8.9 per cent. That is not a promotional figure, it is the middle of the market we operate in, and the difference from logbook lending is not marginal. On £50,000 over 48 months the gap between that and a three figure rate is measured in tens of thousands of pounds.
The reason the pricing differs is the market rather than the mechanism. Lending against a car worth a substantial sum, to a borrower with alternatives, at a conservative share of value, is a low risk piece of business and it is priced like one.
Legal mechanism
A logbook loan transfers legal ownership to the lender under a bill of sale. Car equity release does not: you remain the owner and the lender registers an interest in the vehicle.
Cost
Logbook lending commonly carries rates above 100 per cent annually. The indicative rate here is 8.9 per cent.
The market
Logbook loans are a subprime product for borrowers with limited options. This is specialist asset lending against cars worth six and seven figures, for borrowers who generally have several options and are choosing this one.
What happens if you fall behind
Under a bill of sale the lender already owns the car, which shortens their route to recovering it considerably. Under the agreements we arrange, the lender holds security and has to enforce it, which is a slower and more constrained process.
Why we are telling you this rather than staying quiet
Because the two products sit next to each other in search results, and a reader who assumes they are the same thing will either overpay somewhere else or dismiss this as the same product under a politer name. Neither is a good outcome.
And because the association would be damaging in the other direction too. Selling to people with cars worth six and seven figures while sounding like a subprime lender is a positioning problem, and the honest fix is to state the difference rather than to avoid the subject.
If a logbook loan is genuinely what you need, we are not the right firm and we would rather say so on this page than after a conversation. If it is not, the rest of the site covers what we do arrange: start with car equity release or the manufacturer index.
Why this is not a logbook loan questions
- Is car equity release the same as a logbook loan?
- No. A logbook loan transfers legal ownership of the vehicle to the lender under a bill of sale. Car equity release leaves ownership with you and registers a lender interest instead. The rates differ by an order of magnitude and the two serve entirely different markets.
- Do you arrange logbook loans?
- No. We arrange fixed-term secured lending against cars, generally at substantial values, and we do not operate in the bill of sale market at all.
- Do I lose ownership of my car?
- Not under the agreements we arrange. You remain the registered keeper and the legal owner, and the lender registers an interest that prevents a sale while the finance is outstanding.
Talk to us about releasing capital properly
Tell us what the car is and whether anything is still owed on it. We come back with what a lender is likely to advance against it and what that would cost to service. If the answer is that it does not work, that is the answer you get.