This leaves you exposed to the problem of significant risk and potentially high costs. Many banks, in these turbulent financial times, may have highlighted the benefits of this type of loan but failed to properly explain the risks.

Thousands of companies like you may have been sold this type of financing as a way to protect them against rises in interest rates (interest rate hedging).

With interest rates hitting rock bottom and staying there, companies are now finding themselves locked into uncompetitive rates and stuck with massive monthly repayments.

If your bank didn't explain the risks, our experts in financial regulation can help you. We've recovered over £10m for our customers.

1. The swap transaction is a separate contract from the loan and even after your loan is repaid, your obligations under the swap will continue
2. There can be huge cost implications in the event you wish to cancel the swap early, in many cases resulting in hundreds of thousands of pounds in costs
3. In some cases the bank can terminate the agreement if it proves unfavourable to them
4. If you partially repay the loan, the swap will continue to be based on the original notional amount
5. If the loan balance falls below the notional amount of the swap, the bank may have the right to terminate the swap and you would be liable for the breakage costs
6. There may be a mis-match between the term or amount of the loan and the term or amount of the swap (e.g the swap maturities exceed the underlying loan they were meant to protect)