FREEPHONE 0330 058 1579
7 Days a Week 08:00 - 20:00
7 Days a Week 08:00 - 20:00
Freephone: 0330 058 1579
Are you considering taking out an equity release loan from SunLife?
Here at Equity Release Warehouse, we have conducted a thorough Sun Life equity release review, to give you the full picture of a SunLife equity release plan.
We have covered what an equity release plan is, what factors to consider before applying for one, and what SunLife offers as an equity release provider.
The Sun Life equity release review might leave you with even more questions than when you started reading. If that is the case, our team of equity release advisors at Equity Release Warehouse is happy to answer all of your equity release questions.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Sun Life is a large financial services provider in the UK, specialising in financial products that have been developed for the over-50s. SunLife offers financial products such as funeral cover, life insurance and equity release plans [1].
Sun Life have its roots in supporting over-50s with its finances – a history that stretches back over 200 years.
SunLife became the first company in the UK to offer life insurance without the need for a medical, as well as providing the very first over-50’s life plan in 1979.
During our Sun Life equity release review, we uncovered just how popular Sun Life is – with over 865,000 current policyholders for their over 50’s life cover plans [1].
Some banks and building societies require you to be a member of the building society or hold an existing product with them, in order to qualify for an equity release plan.
The SunLife equity release review found that SunLife has no requirement to already hold another SunLife product to be eligible for an equity release loan.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Equity release is a type of loan that has been designed specifically for homeowners who are over 55 years old. Typically, they are available for UK residents who are aged 55 or over and own a property that is worth over £70,000.
Equity release is a loan that is secured against the value of your home. The total value of your property, minus any outstanding mortgage you have left to pay off, equals the total amount of equity that you have in your house.
SunLife will loan you a specified amount in relation to the amount of equity that you have in your home.
A condition of a Sun Life equity release plan is that you will have to pay off any outstanding mortgage with your equity release loan – but the rest is left for you to spend however you like. Plus, the money will be tax-free.
You can use your tax-free Sun Life equity release amount any way that you wish. Some popular choices include home renovation projects, cash gifts to children, and paying for lavish holidays.
Equity release is a popular method of accessing large sums of cash for people over 55. You could access hundreds of thousands of pounds through SunLife equity release, depending on the value of your home and the outstanding mortgage amount.
With some equity release products, the outstanding loan and interest amount will never be repaid until after you have either passed away or entered into full-time residential care.
Equity release plans are designed for people over 55 years old to be able to make large spending commitments toward making their retirement years comfortable.
A large part of that comfort comes from knowing that you do not need to pay back a penny of the loan for the rest of your life.
There are a number of equity release products on the market, designed to offer you large sums of cash against the equity in your home. Every product has positives and drawbacks depending on your own circumstances.
Some products can be released as either a lump sum and spent in any way that you wish. Other equity release products offer the option to receive your fund through regular installments over the course of your life.
There are even some products that offer you both an initial lump sum and then subsequent payments.
The two most popular equity release products on the market are lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans.
We have carried out a Sun Life equity release review to assess their most popular equity release plans, including lifetime mortgages.
Before you apply for SunLife equity release plan, you can speak with an equity release advisor at Equity Release Warehouse to discuss equity release in more detail, explaining your circumstances so that we can help you find the best plan for you.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Our Sun Life Equity Release Review found the most popular products on offer from SunLife, including their SunLife equity release plans.
Sun Life’s most popular equity release product is its lifetime mortgage. With a lifetime mortgage, you will borrow an amount of money that is secured against the total value of your home.
Sun Life lifetime mortgages are popular with people over 55 as you can continue to live in your home until you either pass away or move into full-time residential care. At this point, your home will be sold and the outstanding loan and interest amount will be paid off.
Lifetime mortgages come with a lifetime fixed interest rate. This can help you forecast your finances better, but it also means that large amounts of compounded interest can accumulate over the rest of your life.
You can choose to reduce the amount of interest that accumulates by voluntarily making repayments on the loan whilst you are alive.
You are able to continue living in your home with a SunLife equity release lifetime mortgage. Despite the equity release loan being secured against your home, you will retain homeownership of the property.
Your house must be sold to repay the loan amount either when you pass away or move into care.
Typically, you will be able to release between £10,000 and £100,000 with a SunLife equity release lifetime mortgage. If you are unsure what amount you will be able to release, you can use the equity release calculator at the equity release warehouse.
Sun Life offers both lump sum lifetime mortgages and smaller regular payment options.
Our Sun Life equity release review uncovered a condition with their lifetime mortgage that you will have to pay off any outstanding mortgage on your property first with the equity release mortgage. Once you have paid off the mortgage, the rest of the tax-free money is up to you to decide how to spend.
Sun Life has multiple types of lifetime mortgages on offer to customers. These include roll-up lifetime mortgages, drawdown lifetime mortgages, flexible lifetime mortgages, enhanced lifetime mortgages and interest-only lifetime mortgages.
Roll-up lifetime mortgages are the most popular lifetime mortgage choice on the market. This equity release mortgage offers you a tax free lump-sum with no repayments until your house is sold. The loan and interest amount is only paid off after your death or when you move into residential care.
During our Sun Life equity release review, we discovered that a Sun Life drawdown lifetime mortgage offers a safer approach if you are concerned about accumulating too much interest. With a drawdown lifetime mortgage, you will have the choice to drawdown on a cash reserve rather than taking is one whole lump-sum at the beginning.
There are no restrictions on how often and how much you can access, and you will not be charged interest on any equity that you do not draw down on. This is beneficial for those of you who are unsure how much cash you will need at the moment.
The flexible lifetime mortgage on offer from SunLife allows you to make voluntary payments towards your equity release loan.
It works just like a regular roll-up lifetime mortgage, but you have the choice to reduce the amount of interest your family will be charged upon the sale of your house by reducing the amount of compounded interest.
An interest-only lifetime mortgage is very common across the equity release market. SunLife offers an interest-only lifetime mortgage which will let you access a lump-sum of tax-free cash, but with a commitment that you pay off an amount of the interest every month.
This reduces the amount of money that your house sale will need to go towards to pay off the final loan amount.
Our Sun Life equity release review found a special lifetime mortgage type that is available for SunLife customers – the enhanced lifetime mortgage.
The Sun Life enhanced lifetime mortgage is available for those who have specific medical conditions, which allows you to access larger amounts of equity from your home. This lifetime mortgage also comes with better interest rates.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Our Sun Life equity release review found that the other equity release plan on offer from Sun Life is a home reversion plan.
A home reversion plan allows you to access large amounts of equity from your home, in exchange for selling part or all of your home. You will be able to remain living in the property for the rest of your life, but you will be responsible for maintaining the condition of the property.
Sun Life home reversion plans are only available to people over the age of 65. Along with your cash sum, you will also receive a ‘lifetime lease’ which allows you to remain in the property for the rest of your life.
If you only sold part of your home in return for the equity release, your family will receive your share of the house sale once your home is sold.
Home reversion plans pay out a discounted rate of the home value. So if your home is valued at £200,000 and you sold 50% of your property for equity release, you wouldn’t actually receive 50% of the house’s real value (£100,000).
However, home reversion plans do not charge interest on top of their loans. Therefore, you avoid the negative effects of compound interest.
Sun Life home reversion plans are a good choice for people who want to know exactly how much of their property will go to their family as their inheritance.
As you will not be charged any interest on your loan, you can estimate exactly how much will be left for your family when you pass away.
Similarly, there are no monthly repayments with a home reversion plan, You can forecast your pension finances with more accuracy knowing that you will not be paying a penny for your loan.
However, it can be costly to reverse your decision on a SunLife home reversion plan. If you decide that you want 100% of your house ownership back after you have sold part of it, you will have to pay the full market value for that share.
If you are interested in equity release but are unsure which SunLife equity release plan is best for you, then speak to a member of the Equity Release Warehouse team for more information.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Deciding to apply for equity release is an incredibly important decision for you and your family to take. It can unlock life-changing amounts of cash and lead to a much more comfortable life in retirement.
It is important to speak to an equity release advisor before you apply for an equity release plan. This will ensure that you decide on the most appropriate plan for you and increase your chances for approval.
Generally, the amount of equity release that you can access comes down to your age and the total value of your home. The older you are then the larger the amount of equity you can take as a percentage of your home’s value; the more valuable your property, the more equity you have to access.
Our Sun Life equity release review found a set of criteria that SunLife advertised for eligibility for their equity release products.
You must be aged 55 or over to qualify for any equity release product. The minimum age increases to 65 for home reversion plans.
Minimum age of 55 years old is a standard age that is seen across the market. SunLife do not specify a maximum age limit for any of its equity release products – the older you are, the more equity you tend to be offered.
Your home must be based in the UK and also be your main residence. It is unlikely that you will qualify for equity release on a 2nd of 3rd property that you have in the UK.
The property type that SunLife equity release plans are made against is not specified. You may be able to qualify for an equity release plan with any type of property, such as detached, semi-detached, bungalow or flat.
The minimum amount your property must be valued at is £70,000. SunLife will ask how much of your mortgage you have remaining on your property, and ask that you pay off the remaining amount with part of your lifetime mortgage. The less mortgage you have left to pay off, the higher the chance of acceptance.
If you are concerned about your eligibility for a Sun Life equity release plan, then speak to a member of the Equity Release Warehouse team for more information.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
The equity release market in the UK is highly regulated with two main organisations overseeing the conduct of both equity release providers and equity release advisors.
The equity release sector is regulated by the Equity Release Council [2] and the Financial Conduct Authority [3].
Taking out an equity release plan is a huge financial commitment for you and your family. It is important that you understand if your advisor and lender is following the checks and balances that are put in place by the equity release council and the financial conduct authority.
The financial conduct authority regulates the entire equity release market, covering products, providers and advisors. Both equity release providers and advisors must be authorised by the financial conduct authority in order to practice their services.
Similarly, the equity release council acts as a body that represents lenders and advisors in the equity release market.
The equity release council ERC) offers further protection to customers by ensuring that equity release products are ERC compliant. ERC-compliant conditions include:
Before engaging with an equity release advisor or an equity release lender, it is worth asking them if they are accredited by the equity release council. You can check if they are a member by searching on their website [4].
Our Sun Life equity release review confirmed that SunLife is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.
If you are considering applying for equity release and are concerned about the safety of equity release or Sun Life as an equity release provider, our team of equity release advisors is on hand to answer all of your questions.
Get in touch today with a member of the Equity Release Warehouse team for help and support.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Even though most equity release plans do not require any repayment over your lifetime, there are still associated costs with setting up the equity release plan and the total loan amount that will be due upon your death.
It is important to understand the fees associated with a Sun Life equity release plan before committing to applying for a loan.
Our Sun Life equity release review found that Sun Life equity release plans will involve an initial application fee. SunLife does not specify what this amount will be, but it is typically a few hundred pounds.
On top of the application fee, initial costs include solicitors fees and any legal or financial advice that you receive from a professional. Solicitors’ fees are usually £1,000 to £2,000, depending on the firm you decide to go with.
You can contact the equity release warehouse for a free consultation to discuss SunLife equity release products – this may save you some initial money with the set-up costs.
The other cost associated with Sun Life equity release products is the total interest that accumulated on the original loan amount. This does not apply to home reversion plans as they are not charged any interest.
The interest that you will be charged on your lifetime mortgage largely depends on two factors: the interest rate and the loan’s lifetime.
It can be difficult to calculate how much interest you will be charged on a lifetime mortgage as it involves calculation of when you will pass away, as it is a ‘lifetime’ loan.
Compound interest can be an intimidating and scary concept as it follows the rule that the interest will exponentially accelerate the longer that the loan is valid. Compound interest works by accruing interest on top of the interest that you have previously been charged on the principal loan amount.
You can mitigate the cost of compounding interest by either paying voluntary payments to reduce the total amount of debt, or opting for an interest-only lifetime mortgage and making regular payments on the interest amount.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Our Sun Life equity release review found that SunLife does have an equity release online calculator.
You can use the equity release calculator to work out how much equity you could release based on your age and total value of your home.
You can use the results from the equity release calculator to help in discussions with an equity release advisor.
It is worth remembering that the equity release calculator is only an initial estimate to how much you could release. The actual amount of equity offered to you by SunLife may differ when you officially apply for an equity release plan.
For help using the equity release calculator and to understand how much equity release you could access from your property, give one of our equity release advisors a call.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
It is only fair to suggest that equity release might not be right for your circumstances. Not everyone is a homeowner, not everyone is over 55, and not everyone’s property is nearly paid off.
Equity release is just one way to access cash that you can use to fund whatever plans you may have for your money.
It is worth remembering that there are alternative methods to accessing large sums of cash to fund your life plans, at any age.
Some alternatives to equity release include:
As with equity release plans, each option comes with its own positives and negatives. Before making any large financial commitment, you should seek the advice of a financial professional when considering borrowing large sums of money.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
[1] https://www.sunlife.co.uk/history/
To Provide Friendly, Efficient Advice For The Life Of Your Mortgage.
Use our Equity Release Calculator to find out how much cash you can release
CALCULATE NOWWe are hear to answer all of your equity release FAQs. Clear any confusion with this list of commonly asked questions and their answers.
Learn MoreThere are two kinds of equity release plan, and these are lifetime mortgages and home reversion.
Learn MoreUse the equity release calculator below to discover how much money you could release from your home.
Learn More
