By Chaitali Dutta
Last year, I took an education loan for my son. Should I start prepaying some amount now or leave it to my son to pay after the end of the moratorium period?
—Shubham Kumar
If you start paying part of the loan now, it will eventually be a smaller loan for your son to repay. Also, the aggregate interest outgo will be smaller.
I paid my home loan a year ago, clearing all dues. However, my credit score is still showing an outstanding balance of Rs 3 lakh against the loan. What should I do to get this rectified?
—Gaurav Sharma
Visit the branch of the bank from where you took the loan with the proof of closure of the loan account, and a copy of your CIBIL report in addition to your application to have the outstanding removed. Under normal circumstances, this intervention is not needed as the banks upload the outstanding reports every 15 days to the credit information companies.
I want to buy an electric vehicle with a bank loan. How can I negotiate for a lower rate of interest with the bank?
—Manish Gautam
Having a good credit score, and an existing valuable relationship with the bank may help you secure a lower interest rate on the vehicle loan.
I have a preapproved loan of Rs 5 lakh from a digital app. Is it safe to take a loan from a digital app or is a bank loan better?
—Amrik Singh
Both are equally safe/ equally risky. All you need to do is read all the documents carefully before accepting it or signing it. Understand the conditions and the kind of action they may take in case of a default at your end.
The interest rate for loan against securities varies widely between banks. How should I select a bank and what kind of securities can I mortgage to raise funds?
—Ravinder
For loans against securities, any scheduled bank, reputed private bank, or foreign bank would be okay. The banks will consider fixed deposits, bonds, stocks, and mutual fund units as eligible securities for loans.
The writer is founder, AZUKE Personal Finance Advisory.