Personal loans are an answer to all our big financial problems. If you want an additional to the house, buy a new car, take a vacation or even consolidate your credit cards dues, personal loan is the best option you can rely upon.

These loans can be easily availed from a number of financial companies both at easy interest rates as well as flexible terms and conditions. However the rates and conditions differ from company to company. But there are some common conditions that almost every bank or a financial company follows. To number a few of them are:

1.One must have a creditors proof stating about a steady job, including past paychecks.
2.Personal loans are offered from Rs 20,000 upto Rs 20 lakhs.
3.Special personal loan schemes for Doctors, Chartered Accountants, Engineers, Architects, CS & ICWA.
4.No requirement of a Guarantor or Collateral to avail a personal loan.
5.One can get a personal loan both at a fixed or a floating rate.
6.One needs to have a bank account to get a personal loan.
7.There are easy EMI options for repayment and also the loan tenure can vary from a period of 12 to 60 months.

Although one can avail a personal loan easily from any financial institution but it is important to look at the terms and conditions and make sure you are not paying more than you bargained for due to interest rates and loan fees on the amount of money that you borrow. However some companies also place limits on how much you can avail and what type of bank account you have in order to secure a personal loan. So keep in mind that a minimum income may be necessary.

Also there are two categories- secured and unsecured- under which a bank or a financial company extends a personal loan.

Secured personal loans can be availed against a home or any other residential property that is kept with the lender as a security. These loans are offered at low interest rates because a lower risk is associated with them. The risk involvement is low due to the security which can be seized by the financial company in case the borrower default to repay. Mostly these loans are given to the home-owners as property is considered the best form of security.

On the other hand, there are unsecured personal loans, which can be availed by a borrower without keeping any security with the bank. The interest rate charged under this category is much higher as compared to the secured personal loans category because the risk involved is higher in such a case. This kind of a loan is beneficial for a borrower who has a poor credit rating and generally faces problems while getting his loan approved.