INSURANCE COMPANIES

Some insurance companies are actively involved in lending on ordinary mortgages, using their own funds to finance them. They are likely to offer interest only mortgages solely and insist on their own policies being used as repayment vehicles.

Some companies have recently set up their own banks, usually offering telephone or internet banking (eg Prudential’s Egg account). These banking operations can then be used to support mortgage lending as well as ordinary banking operations. This lending is financed by a mixture of funds deposited by their savers and their own company’s funds.