Taking Out a Loan as a Student

superlukeyboy

I'm in my final year at uni, graduating in June. Whether I pass my degree or not, I have a guaranteed job starting in July with the forces.

The only thing is that right now I'm skint, no cash left. I also have a car that I need to run, but more importantly get serviced as I'm currently tempting fate with the cam belt. If that breaks, the car is going to the scrappy.

I have a lot of expenditure and no income at the moment, not a good situation to be in i know!

My idea was to go the bank and take out a loan for about £3000. This will tie me over till July and will mean that I can sort out my finances and get my life in order. It also means that I won't be worrying about money and how I'm going to pay the rent whilst I'm doing my final exams and getting all this coursework and my dissertation done.

The only problem is that I'm technically still a student so the banks are just turning their noses up. But by this time next year I'll be earning a nice officer's wage, surely that helps my cause?

I was just wondering if anyone could reccommend any banks etc that might be able to help me out with my unique situation.

Thanks a lot everyone!

somethingcorporate

I am not sure a bank will touch you I am afraid, they are turning away enough people that are presently earning, let alone ones that may start earning in a year or so!

But... all hope is not lost. If you are still a student use that to your advantage - should be a good few interest free overdrafts available to you. You can always pay these back with a loan (if / when they start charging interest) when you have some income to cover the repayment.

superlukeyboy

i'm only allowed one student account though? i've got an overdraft with my current bank for a nice £1600. however i 'may' have maxed that out... woops!

somethingcorporate

Many student overdrafts do have somewhere in the T&Cs that you are only allowed one student account but not every bank is particularly strict in enforcing these rules!

superlukeyboy

hmmm i shall look into this then! i was always told that you are only allowed one and it's fraud if you have two. however if their T&Cs are vague then who am i to complain? thank you!

however, if anyone else can shed any light on the loan situation i'd still very much appreciate it!

elfen

Do you have a payment of student loan/grant in April? Did you have a bursary? Have you applied to the Access to Learning Fund which may be able to help at some level.

superlukeyboy

yes i've got another installment coming in, but that is over a month away.
no i didn't have a bursary.
i don't qualify for the access to learning fund.

i've done my research and i'm pretty sure my only option is either make do with the student loan and get a job. or get a bank loan and concentrate on passing my degree.

u4n90

not sure on the procedure for switching overdrafts but, if you can open/switch to, a natwest student account, they have an overdraft limit of £2000. What's more, they then work out a repayment plan whereby you only pay it off yearly, up to 3 years. (The overdraft remains interest free one year after you graduate, then only £1000 is interest free a year later, then only £500 pounds 2 years after you graduate, so by year 3 it needs paying off in full.) They basically credit your account with £2000 pounds at the same 0.0% interest as the overdraft, which effectively wipes out the overdraft. you therefore still owe the bank £2000, but you now have that money to spend, instead of being £2000 in the red.

they explain it better than i do, google: natwest graduate overdraft repayment plan. (i'm a noob so i can't post links)

hope this helps. it certainly helped me. (NB you will probably need to show them a forces letter saying you have an unconditional job offer for within a year of graduation. Let me know how you get on)

FactoringCompany

I'm not sure you'll be able to get a second student account, as most banks ask that your astudent loan be paid into your student account. So unless you have 2 loan payments (at the same time) this may not be possible I'm afraid