Background
Canada Life entered the equity release industry following the acquisition of Retirement Advantage which completed in 2018. Prior to the take-over Retirement Advantage was formed by a re-branding of MGM Advantage in 2015, following the purchase of former equity release lender - Stonehaven Equity Release. Tracing its roots back to 1852, Retirement Advantage were a specialist in providing retirement products such as lifetime mortgages and retirement accounts.
Canada Life's range of lifetime mortgage uk plans offer a 'design-it-yourself' approach to equity release. Offering a suite of products such as lump sum, interest only lifetime mortgages and voluntary repayment schemes, they have also expanded into Buy-to-Let and Second Home equity release plans.
As additions to these plans, a qualifying homeowner can add-on extra's they require such as cashbacks or a drawdown facility which all influence the final deal they receive. Couple this with their 8-year fixed early repayment charge makes Canada Life a serious lender in the equity release marketplace.
The Canada Life 'Lifestyle' range provides a suite of simple lump sum equity release schemes offering three tiers of plans based on their loan-to-value ratio’s - Lite, Gold and Platinum. This mid-point Lifestyle Gold plan offers a higher loan-to-value (LTV) than its countepart - the Lifestyle Lite, and subsequently incurs a higher interest rate. Conversely, the Lifestyle Gold Plan has a lower LTV than the Platinum range of products and consequentially has a more attractive interest rate for the homeowner. Therefore, gauging the release amount against the interest rate is key with these Canada Life lifestyle plans.