Does anyone have any experience with Zopa Loans ?

jamesd

That check with Zopa won't have left a visible mark. They use a quotation search until someone is accepted, then change to an application search. Quotation searches aren't visible to other lenders. They are visible to you if you get your own report from Equifax.

If you have the control your situation is a natural one for a 0% for spending card where you spend on the card and immediately pay the amount you've spent off your other debts. That gradually moves the debt to 0% without having to pay a balance transfer fee. Then yo move on to clearing the 0% balance with the card inside a block of ice in the freezer so you can't use it any more.:)

I know you don't want to use cards, just being sure that you have a complete answer about what's efficient, no need for you to use it if you don't want to.

moatmeister

I had, and have now repaid a £10k/3yr loan with Zopa. All very good and looking to use again when my credit file is back under control after a tempory blip. Wife has recently applied but was declined probably due to excessive outstanding CC borrowings that we wanted to consolidate. Put this down as purpose for loan on application but they were not interested in helping, prefering to leave us at the mercy of the money grabbing banks.

Great shame, its a good concept.

Would try again though. Ability to over pay or pay early is good. I think you need a pretty near perfect credit history and not excessive outstanding borrowings

jamesd

moatmeister, your wife might want to exercise her Data Protection Act right to seek information about automated decision taking in respect of her application. This applies only if she was declined by the automated process. If she received a personal quotation of a rate and was declined later, that was done by a human and this doesn't apply.

You're probably right about the reason. Zopa is unlikely to accept an applicant with half or more of their income in unsecured borrowing and they assume even in debt consolidation cases that the loan will be in addition to the existing borrowing. This is in part because it's not uncommon for people to just run up the other borrowing again.

All personal loans lenders are required by law to allow overpayments and to charge no more than two months of interest on the money overpaid. Zopa makes no charge.

Zopa is very selective, declining perhaps 90+% of people who seek a quotation. Most at the initial pre-quotation stage but still a very high percentage after that. Depends on their specific credit situation. No great harm done by trying because they only use a quotation search until an application is accepted, then switch to an application search.

27col

moatmeister wrote: »

I had, and have now repaid a £10k/3yr loan with Zopa. All very good and looking to use again when my credit file is back under control after a tempory blip. Wife has recently applied but was declined probably due to excessive outstanding CC borrowings that we wanted to consolidate. Put this down as purpose for loan on application but they were not interested in helping, prefering to leave us at the mercy of the money grabbing banks.

Great shame, its a good concept.

Would try again though. Ability to over pay or pay early is good. I think you need a pretty near perfect credit history and not excessive outstanding borrowings

Quite a good proprtion of Zopa loans are for consolidation, if my loan book on Zopa is anything to go by. If they refused you it was because they did not like your general financial management record, and not because you wanted to consolidate. As I have said before, They are lending out my money and that of people like me and we do not take kindly to defaults.

21yrold

I've used zopa and i am still using zopa

They used to have a forum where you could ask aka beg for the money but i think they have stopped that now!

Always been helpful to me and website layout of account etc repayments has been awesome!