Zopa Loan

Emma_whitnash

I applied for a loan last week with Zopa, they seemed competitive and had the option of early redemption and no charge overpayments. Unfortunately was declined for reasons I don't know about (credit rating is excellent and I have no major debts just an o/s credit card balance). My only thoughts were that I'm part time and was requesting a small amount (£3000), however they didn't ask for any of my partner's details which I thought was rather odd.

Tixy

Emma_whitnash wrote: »

however they didn't ask for any of my partner's details which I thought was rather odd.

The majority of lenders don't ask for your partners details - as if you are applying for a loan in your name its only you who will be legally liable to repay it. Your partner can't be pursued for it if you can't pay so they see his income as irrelevant to the decision whether to accept your application or not.

Its not your credit rating or category that the credit reference agencies use that is most relevant to the application, its what your actual credit history is like and whether they think you can afford the loan.

How much is your income? how much is your outstanding credit card balance?

JimDuff

Well I have zero debt, no credit cards, no previous loans, no store cards, I live at home and have maybe £800 a month free income so we will have to wait and see.I have had previous finance on cars and it's all been settled and all in the green. So I really don't see why they wouldn't trust me with £130 a month repayments. Not entirely bank breaking..

Billy-no-Money

I was declined by Zopa, unsurprisingly, but took the option of Listing - entered a very detailed account of my finances, how I got into debt, what I'd done so far, why I was taking out a new loan etc.

I was asked some very probing questions, and one or two rude comments about my financial position were made, but in the end I got the loan I needed though at a fairly high rate (about 13%). However, I knew I would be able to overpay later in the loan, and indeed that's what I've done and the loan was cleared halfway through its term. Zopa makes no charge for overpayment or early settlement, and it's easy to do.

At the time it was a lifesaver, as my only option would have been sub-prime lenders at extortionate rates. I was already well down my Debt-free-Wannabee path and needed to repay a family member who'd helped my out at my lowest point, the last thing I needed was a 35%+ loan!

If you can justify your borrowing, and write a good case, Listings are a good option.

Emma_whitnash

That's what initially attracted me to them, the fact you can overpay without penalty and can redeem early.

My income is around £17k and cc o/s balance is around £3k (which I am in the process of clearing - or trying to). For a £3k loan and repayments of less than £100 I didn't see a problem with this, clearly they did!

JimDuff

Billy-no-Money wrote: »

I was declined by Zopa, unsurprisingly, but took the option of Listing - entered a very detailed account of my finances, how I got into debt, what I'd done so far, why I was taking out a new loan etc.

I was asked some very probing questions, and one or two rude comments about my financial position were made, but in the end I got the loan I needed though at a fairly high rate (about 13%). However, I knew I would be able to overpay later in the loan, and indeed that's what I've done and the loan was cleared halfway through its term. Zopa makes no charge for overpayment or early settlement, and it's easy to do.

At the time it was a lifesaver, as my only option would have been sub-prime lenders at extortionate rates. I was already well down my Debt-free-Wannabee path and needed to repay a family member who'd helped my out at my lowest point, the last thing I needed was a 35%+ loan!

If you can justify your borrowing, and write a good case, Listings are a good option.

Well If I get denied I'll probably go down the listings route, as long as Zopa don't remove it. I'll just be honest and explain the situation. Hopefully one of the two will come through for me. I don't want to pay more than 11-12% APR though.

Billy-no-Money

The 13% was nearly three years ago - rates seem to have come down now, current listings seem to be coming in below the 11-12% mark. In early 2008 it wasn't exactly easy to get a loan anywhere else so 13% was good!

jamesd

Zopa has just announced that the Listings facility is being withdrawn from tomorrow morning. It is possible to have a Listing created and open while a Markets application is running so there's a brief time window to create a new Listing.