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Savings account
An account with a building society or a bank in which you save money and are paid interest on the amount you save.

Secured loan
A secured loan is a loan that is backed by assets belonging to the borrower, normally your home. This reduces the risk for the lender and may enable the borrower to obtain better terms for the loan. However if the borrower fails to keep up repayments on the loan then the lender could seek to use the assets that the loan is secured against to repay the outstanding debt. An unsecured loan is not backed by any assets belonging to the borrower.

Social media
Interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks through an internet connection.

Sort code
A six-digit number that identifies a building society or bank.

Stamp Duty Land Tax
The one-off tax you would need to pay the Government when you purchase your property if it’s over a certain value.

The stamp duty system works like income tax, where you get a tax-free allowance, and then pay a different rate of tax for each portion of the property price above that allowance. Currently the rate is 2% on the value of the property over £125,000 but less than £250,000; 5% on the value between £250,001 and £925,000; 10% on the value between £925,001 and £1.5 million; 12% on the value over £1.5 million.

Standard Mortgage Rate
A variable rate, which is not subject to any upper limit or a cap and allows you the flexibility to make overpayments without incurring an early repayment charge.

The Standard Mortgage Rate is not available for new mortgage deals and only applies to customers coming to the end of their deal where the product was reserved on or after the 30 April 2009. The Standard Mortgage Rate is not available for new mortgage deals and only applies to customers coming to the end of their deal where the product was reserved on or after the 30 April 2009.

Standing Order
An agreement with your building society or bank to make regular payments of a set amount of money from your account to another person or company.

Sustainability
Living in a way that minimises the cost to the environment.

Survey (mortgage)
An inspection of the property by a qualified surveyor carried out before buying a property.

Switching (mortgage)
When a customer switches from one product to another with the same provider.

Switch and Fix (mortgage)
Our tracker products offer the option to switch to a fixed rate within our 'Switch and Fix' range at any point in the deal period, without paying Early Repayment Charges on the tracker mortgage.

Telegraphic Transfer fee
Also known as a CHAPS transfer, this term is used to refer to sending funds from one bank to another electronically. There is usually a fee involved.

Telephone Banking
This is banking over the phone. You can get details of your balance, or report lost or stolen cards.

Text alerts
A way of receiving free texts to your mobile phone to help you keep in control of your money. FlexOne customer can sign up to receive mini statements and low or high balance alerts.

Title Deeds
The documents held at the Land Registry that prove legal ownership of a property and all other dealings with that land; England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have their own Land Registries.

Tracker Floor
Tracker mortgages often have a lower limit called a tracker floor or a collar. This means that if the Base Rate falls past this point, the interest rate will remain the same.

Tracker Rate Mortgage
With a tracker mortgage, the interest rate you pay tracks the base rate up and down by an agreed percentage.

Your payments will go up and down in line with rate changes, unless the base rate goes below the tracker floor.

Transaction
A payment made from one person to another; deposit or withdrawal from an account.

Transfer
Moving money from one account to another.

Travel Insurance
An insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses, financial default of travel suppliers, and other losses incurred while travelling, either within one's own country, or internationally.

Underpayments
By making overpayments to your mortgage account, you can improve your flexibility when it comes to underpaying in the future. Any overpayments you make during each calendar year, within your product’s annual overpayment allowance, will contribute to and build up an overpayment reserve. For example, if you have an overpayment allowance of £10,000 over the course of a year and make a £1,000 overpayment in one month, you can use the £1,000 to pay reduced monthly payments at any time up to the value of the credit balance you have built up, provided all of your accounts are up to date. So if you find you want some flexibility with your monthly payments for a few months, your overpayment reserve can cover your monthly payments, or allow you to ‘underpay’ to reduce your monthly mortgage payment.

Unsecured debt
An amount of money borrowed without any property or goods used as security against it.

Valuables Inside Home
Valuables are insured as part of your contents cover up to a limit of 30% of your contents sum insured. You can choose to increase this limit if you need more.
Valuables means:

• Jewellery and watches
• Items made of gold, silver and other precious metals
• Furs
• Pictures and other works of art
• Collections of stamps, coins and medals

If you have any of these items that are worth more than £2,000 with our Home Insurance Essentials policy or £4,000 with our Home Insurance policy they will need to be listed on the policy.

Valuation (mortgage)
The property inspection carried out by a surveyor to assess the current market value of a property.

Also used by lenders to decide how much money they are willing to lend you (also called land valuation or real estate appraisal).

Valuation fee
The charge for obtaining a valuation report of a property, also known as a valuation cost. Usually the fee increases with the value of the property.

Value Protection Annuities
Also known as Capital Protected Annuities, are an alternative to a specific guaranteed period, which allows the value of the initial fund used to buy the annuity to be protected as a potential benefit in the event of early death. The protected value is selected at outset and any benefit on death depends on the gross income payments paid out being less than the protected value, any balance may be subject to a tax charge depending on the age at the time death occurs.

Variable Rate mortgage
This is where the interest rate offered by the provider varies and can move up and down with market fluctuations.

Vendor
Another word for the person selling the property.

Verified by Visa (VBV)
An online security system for credit and debit card transactions. Verified by Visa (VbV) is designed to stop unauthorised purchases and make online shopping even more secure.

V.Me
V.me by Visa is a new digital wallet service that lets you pay for everything you buy online, simply and securely.

Window locks
Key operated window locks to all opening windows and skylights.

Withdrawal
Money taken out of your account.