Within all aspects of consumer finance: Mortgages, Loans, Credit Cards or Savings the use of jargon and accepted industry terms is widespread. Our comprehensive jargon buster explains what those terms mean in an effort to demystify consumer finance.
Daily Interest
Where interest is applied on a daily basis instead of the traditional monthly time frame.
Data Protection Act (1988)
Regulations introduced to protect the transfer of personal data within and between different organisations.
Debt
The money owing to a lender.
Debt Consolidation
Replacing a number of existing debts (loans and/or credit cards) with a single loan from one provider.
Deed
The document that proves you own the property. It will also show any land boundaries.
Deed Of Covenant
The document expressing the terms of the agreement, typically a lender will restrict certain activities, such as use of a house for commercial purposes, or sub-letting.
Deeds Release Fee
This fee is charged by the lender for releasing the deeds of the mortgaged property and returning them to the owner or his solicitor, usually when the mortgage has been repaid.
Default
When a payment or a series of payments are missed.
Default Notice
A letter served by a creditor to the borrower to say that a credit agreement has been breached, and that action must be taken by the individual to prevent the creditor seeking repayment via a County Court Judgement.
Deferral Period
A time period on a loan during which no repayments need to be made.
Deferred Interest
A type of loan where some or all of the interest owed by the borrower is added to the amount outstanding which therefore causes the borrower to owe much more than originally borrowed.
Delinquent Loan
A loan whereby the borrower is behind on payments.
Direct Debit
A method of making automatic payments electronically from a current account. Direct debits may be at fixed intervals - e.g. for a monthly credit card.
Direct Lenders
Lenders who operate on lower overheads, through use of call centres, mailing houses, or internet based operations, instead of an expensive branch-based network.
Discharged CCJ
A county court judgement that has been paid.
Disclaimer
Any written notice designed to discharge liability of a company, for providing inaccurate information in a leaflet.
Discount Mortgages
A mortgage that gives the borrower a percentage reduction on the lenders Standard Variable Rate (SVR) for a set period of time. They monthly payment can vary as the institution increases or decreases its SVR.
Discount Period
Time period in which reduced payments are offered.
Discount Rate
The mortgage interest rate is lower than the current normal standard variable rate, but only for a certain period of time.