My father went into this question, and came to the conclusion tnat there were so many fees and costs and extras, he was paying out far more than the small extra income was worth. However, my aunt, his sister, did go down that road, and died just after the time when some rebate could have been claimed. The family lost tens of thousands of pounds. We'd rather have lent her money to be claimed against her estate, if she had asked, but she went ahead and did it without asking the family for advice or help. Seems a poor deal, whichever way you look at it.