Personal loan with my bank - should I take it?

chuckles76

Hi
would appreciate some advice

I went for a review with my bank the other day and was offered a loan with them but I'm not sure whether to take it. Let me give you some info on my background.

I currently have debts of approx £13,000 (2 loans - 1 fixed at 8.9%, one flexible that has gone from 9.9% to a ridiculous 21.9% and 2 credit cards both at approx 19.9%)

My bank have offered me a loan at 8.1% which understandably I am really pleased with and you may be wondering why I'm questioning it.

When I checked on moneysupermarket the typical apr for my bank is 11.3% so this means I've been offered a rate lower than the typical. According to the loan comarison on the same website, the lowest typical apr at the moment is 7.7%. My question is - would I get an even lower rate with this company? Or is the fact that it is with my bank why I have been offered such a good rate?

I know that since getting full time rather than part time work and getting a mistake on my credit file corrected, I have gone from being a high risk customer to a 'best customer'.

The loan is for 3 years but I am planning on making over payments - i have made a couple of extra payments to the flexible loan already recently as understandably this is my priority.

What should I do? Should I just accept the loan with my bank or try for a lower rate with another company?

jonesMUFCforever

With your total debt I think you will find it very hard to beat 8.1%
Take it now before the offer is withdrawn IMO.

JimmyTheWig

Is there anything to lose by getting a quote from one other loan company? (Genuine question rather than rhetorical.)

Cash_Flow

chuckles76 wrote: »

Hi
would appreciate some advice

I went for a review with my bank the other day and was offered a loan with them but I'm not sure whether to take it. Let me give you some info on my background.

I currently have debts of approx £13,000 (2 loans - 1 fixed at 8.9%, one flexible that has gone from 9.9% to a ridiculous 21.9% and 2 credit cards both at approx 19.9%)

My bank have offered me a loan at 8.1% which understandably I am really pleased with and you may be wondering why I'm questioning it.

When I checked on moneysupermarket the typical apr for my bank is 11.3% so this means I've been offered a rate lower than the typical. According to the loan comarison on the same website, the lowest typical apr at the moment is 7.7%. My question is - would I get an even lower rate with this company? Or is the fact that it is with my bank why I have been offered such a good rate?

I know that since getting full time rather than part time work and getting a mistake on my credit file corrected, I have gone from being a high risk customer to a 'best customer'.

The loan is for 3 years but I am planning on making over payments - i have made a couple of extra payments to the flexible loan already recently as understandably this is my priority.

What should I do? Should I just accept the loan with my bank or try for a lower rate with another company?

Out of interest what bank was this?

LeeSouthEast

Take it now. The offer won't last long at that rate (it's a very good rate).

Cash_Flow

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Is there anything to lose by getting a quote from one other loan company? (Genuine question rather than rhetorical.)

If you obtain a quote from another lender they will need to credit score you.

Do you want another credit search on your file?

How much interest are you going to save? 7.7%APR vs 8.1%APR over 3 years?

lopbri

That is a very good rate snap it up now, not sure you could get lower than that(unsecured), my bank offered 9.9% last month and said i was an excellent customer, and could not go lower, i noticed 2 weeks later that their standard is now 11.3% (lloydstsb)

JimmyTheWig

I make it a saving of just over £2 a month. That's worth a credit search, isn't it? With this much debt I would imagine the OP won't be applying for other credit in the near future.

Unless the credit search will affect the original offer? I don't know how these things work.

LeeSouthEast

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I make it a saving of just over £2 a month. That's worth a credit search [...] Unless the credit search will affect the original offer

For the sake of £2 a month, is it worth that risk?

JimmyTheWig

That's my point. I don't know how these things work.
If the credit search might affect the existing offer then take the existing offer, but if not why not try the other company?

Does anyone know if it will affect the original offer or not? Would the bank be able to tell the OP?

LeeSouthEast

Thinking aloud, would depend on the institution I guess. Some may use the original credit check when confirming the loan, others may do it again to make sure nothing changed. Another search (or searches) could affect the rate offered. The OP would need to check with their bank to see what they'd do.