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With a secured loan finding a good deal should not be too difficult, but it is essential to take the right steps to secure the correct loan for your needs. And that you are dealing with the right company who are working to help you, not the finance company.

Secured loans are available for all kinds of uses, buying a new car, extending your home, a dream holiday and a multitude of other needs.

The secured loans industry is not what it was even 20 years ago; finding a good deal with a reputable company should be straightforward. But even so, it is essential to take great care when selecting a broker and finance company to deal with.

After all, with a secured loan, you are putting up 'security'. Their security will be something of great value to you, such as your home. So it is essential not to allow your home to become security against a loan with a dubious company.

The Financial Ombudsman Service, and Trading Standards have managed to drive the vast majority of cowboy brokers out of the market, but a few dodgy characters are still involved in the secured loan business.

Therefore, you need to make absolutely sure to follow some simple steps in finding a good deal on your secured loan.

Firstly, and possibly most importantly, you need to find out if your broker is regulated. Any decent broker will be registered with either, or both, the FSA and FISA. It's quite easy to check with these organizations to find out if a broker is registered with them. You can also make a check on the Financial Ombudsman's web site.

Next, you need to ask yourself this is broker independent? Some brokers only represent a couple, or even one lender. If they own represent one company, and rely on that company for their income is obvious they can't be independent.

So don't be shy in asking them how many companies they represent, if you can count on one hand, this is probably not the guy for you. Keep in mind that the broker makes a living from selling secured loans, it's also important that he is interested in finding you the best deal.

There's an old saying, 'if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is' this saying should be applied when looking at interest rates. It's easy to quote the 'lowest available' rate in an advert. Then you discover that this rate is not available for you, discuss the most likely rate of interest with the broker before filling out the paperwork.

Reading the small print can be a problem, even if you have good eyesight, it can be hard to known what all the legal jargon means, but if you don't know ask the broker. If you're very unsure, ask a solicitor to look at it for you, spending a little money now could save you a fortune down the line.

One of the easiest ways of finding a good deal with secured loans is just to take your time, this loan is a big deal, so don't rush into it. In any case, on a loan of less than '25,000, you have a legal 'cooling off' period of 16 days.

In that time, the broker is not allowed contact you, unless you contact them first and you are well within your legal rights to change your mind about the loan.

These are the best ways, a regular person can help protect themselves against the few remaining 'loan sharks' still out there in secured loan waters. So finding a good deal and protecting yourself should not be too much of a worry.