Online Loan Glossary
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Underwriting: Where a company looks at known facts such as age and health in order to assess the likelihood of you making a claim on an insurance policy.

Unit Linked Pension: Such pension contributions are used to buy units in a pooled fund or funds. Unit-linked pensions are invested in a variety of funds. The funds are grouped together in sectors, representing the style, area and risk level in which the relevant pension fund has chosen to invest. As the value of the units may fall and rise during the period of investment, care is taken to 'spread' the investment in a variety of ways to obtain the best return commensurate with prudent investing.

Unit Trusts: A unit trust is a portfolio of investments that spread market risks. It allows an investor to reduce their risk exposure by pooling their investment. When investing in a unit trust, cash buys units. Each unit trust has thousands of people holding units in the fund. A unit trust is an open-ended investment, as the number of units in each trust will vary depending on supply. As more investors join, more units are created. Unit trusts cover a variety of funds.

Unitised with profits pension: With these pension schemes payments are used to buy units in an insurance company's with profits fund. The value of these increases annually depending on the investment performance and profits of the insurance company.

Unsecured Personal Loan: A personal loan available from a bank, building society or other financial institution without security. They are usually covered by the terms of the Consumer Credit Act. A lump sum will be loaned in return for you agreeing to make regular repayments usually by direct debit. Personal loans are available from £500 up to £25K (security will usually be needed for loans of large amounts) and are repayable over a period of time, usually between 6 months and 10 years.