credit union

winterwhite11

hi, i am ill and claiming esa and dla
i was thinking of joining acredit union and saving £300 a month for 5 months then asking for aloan for £5000
the thing is i have a terrible credit rating due mostly to a friend i was helping getting hold of my details and getting catalogues etc.....
so do you think the union would give me a loan with bad rating and me not working..

jimjames

I've no experience of their policy but I would imagine it depends entirely on outgoings and income but it could be irresponsible lending money to people who have restricted means to repay. Saving £300 per month you'd reach your target in 18 months anyway so do you need a loan?

premierfella

Fully agree with the above.

Some credit unions, I believe, are able to offer loans to risks they wouldn't otherwise be able to consider due to DWP support (or certainly used to - I'm not sure if the current DWP support for credit unions is still of this nature or now focused on simply underpinning financial stability and costs associated with expansion of credit unions).

However, I suspect the loan amounts for those on benefits would normally be much lower than £5000. As is sometimes the case, the best thing to do is discuss it with the credit union themselves, who will certainly be able to advise if its a complete non-starter based on their experience of loan approvals.