Home finance
Capital Select Options
A drawdown lifetime mortgage: an approved facility from which the client takes cash only when it is needed, so interest accrues on drawn funds only.
Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry · Maoileann, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who it is for
Clients who need capital in stages rather than at once
What it does
- Reserve facility with no charge on undrawn funds
- Minimum drawdown of £2,000
- Fixed rate set at each drawdown
- Inheritance protection and downsizing protection available
The product in full
The most expensive mistake in equity release is borrowing money before it is needed. A client who takes £120,000 as a lump sum and spends £40,000 of it over the first decade has paid rolled-up interest for ten years on £80,000 that sat in a bank account.
Capital Select Options is built to prevent exactly that. An approved facility is agreed at outset, the client draws an initial advance from it, and the rest sits in reserve. Nothing is charged on undrawn funds — no facility fee, no interest, nothing. When more is needed, the client draws from £2,000 upwards and interest starts on that amount from that date.
Each drawdown is at the fixed rate applying when it is taken, which cuts both ways: a client drawing in a lower rate environment benefits, and one drawing in a higher one does not. The reserve is valid for fifteen years, which is long enough for the arrangement to serve as a standing facility rather than a series of applications.
The comparison with a lump sum is the whole argument, and it is arithmetic rather than opinion — the worked example below sets the two side by side on identical assumptions.
Literature
Product literature is issued to appointed intermediaries. Ask your underwriter, or request it through the enquiry form.
- Key facts illustrationOn request
- Drawdown request formOn request
How it works
What happens, in order
From the first enquiry to the point the cover, the contract or the facility is in place.
A facility is approved
The total the client could borrow, based on age and property value. Nothing is charged on the part not drawn.
An initial advance is taken
From £10,000. Interest begins on this amount only.
Further drawdowns as needed, from £2,000
On the drawdown request form. Each is at the fixed rate applying on the date it is taken.
Interest rolls up on drawn funds only
Each tranche compounds from its own date, not from the date the facility was approved.
Repayment on death or long-term care
From the property sale, with the no negative equity guarantee and the same inheritance and downsizing protections available.
The numbers
A worked example
Illustrative arithmetic, so the shape of the product is visible rather than described. Nothing here is a quotation or a projection.
The same money, drawn in stages against taken at once
A £120,000 facility, £80,000 actually needed over ten years, at an illustrative 6.5%. Both columns use identical assumptions — the only difference is when the money was taken.
- Facility approved
- £120,000
- Initial advance at outset
- £40,000
- Drawdown at year 5
- £20,000
- Drawdown at year 10
- £20,000
- Total drawn
- £80,000
- Balance at year 15, drawn in stages
- £167,819
- Balance at year 15, had £80,000 been taken at outset
- £205,747
- DifferenceInterest never charged, on money not yet needed
- £37,928
- Charged on the £40,000 never drawn
- Nothing
Illustrative at a constant 6.5%. In practice each drawdown is at the rate applying on its own date, so the real comparison depends on where rates go — but the principle that undrawn money costs nothing does not depend on the rate at all.
Balance at year 15, staged against lump sum
The illustrative arrangement above, on identical assumptions.
View these figures as a table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Drawn in three stages | £168k |
| Taken as one lump sum — The same £80,000, taken at outset | £206k |
Suitability
Where the Capital Select Options fits
The cases it answers, the cases it does not, and what an underwriter needs before quoting.
It is the right answer when
- Clients who need capital in stages — home adaptations, care costs, periodic support to family.
- Anyone who would otherwise hold released cash in a bank account.
- Clients who want a standing facility available for fifteen years without reapplying.
Look at something else when
- A client who needs the whole sum at once — Advantage Options prices a lump sum more keenly.
- A client whose health supports a materially higher release — Lifestyle Select Options is the underwritten route.
What we need to quote
- 1.The broker’s suitability assessment and the clients’ ages.
- 2.Property details and value.
- 3.The initial advance required, and an indication of the total facility wanted.
Questions
What brokers ask us about this product
Is anything charged on the reserve?
No. Undrawn funds carry no interest and no facility charge. That is the whole design.
What rate applies to a later drawdown?
The fixed rate applying on the date of that drawdown, which may be higher or lower than the initial advance rate. Each tranche then keeps its own rate for life.
What happens after fifteen years?
The reserve validity is fifteen years. A client who expects to need funds beyond that should discuss it with their broker at outset rather than discovering it later.
Request information
Ask us about the Capital Select Options
The form reaches an underwriter in Dublin. If you are an intermediary, say so and we will route it to the broker desk.