Graduate loan requires 3 months salary

seanlloydbooth

Hi,

I graduated from university last July, and have since found work @ £25,000 a year (which I start on the 2nd June, a little under a month!). I need money to put down a deposit and pay first months rent, along with a few furnishings and set up fees for things like internet, admin etc... I have very little money to use, and in fact have -£1,500 on my student overdraft still (still 0% interest), due to the ridiculous amount of money accommodation cost whilst at university.

I initially saw HSBC graduate loan, which offered £5,000 over 12 months at 4.8% APR (so I would pay back £5,128. I chose £5,000 since I actually paid less back than lower amounts!), which was excellent, and I budgeted for that and saw I'd have plenty of money.

The problem is, they require 3 months salary! I went into Lloyds bank and they said the same thing.

I understand it's a lot lower risk for the bank if I have money coming in, but if I had money coming in I wouldn't have this problem! I showed them my job offer and starting date and it didn't matter.

Is there a bank that can provide me with a graduate loan that would accept a job offer as proof of future salary? Or is there any other avenue I could go down?

Help would be most appreciated!

NHS_worker_bee

I got a graduate loan with Barclays arranged in advance of starting my job with my final job confirmation offer letter. I applied for the loan in August, got accepted, and they paid me in early September (2011) just a few days after starting my job.

To tide you over, do you have any unused overdraft facility you could rely on just until you start your job? (you say you owe £1500 but what is the overdraft limit?)

Just a word of warning, I got a £5000 graduate loan (with Barclays) but I already had a £3000 student overdraft (also with Barclays). I had to agree to give up the overdraft facility in order to transfer my account from a student account to a graduate account to be eligible to get the loan. This may not be an issue for you if your student account is with a different bank.

Best wishes.

brendon

Does your bank offer a graduate account? It seems a natural progression to transfer a student account into a graduate account, which typically come with larger overdrafts.

jonesMUFCforever

If the bank lent you the money today and the job fell through or you did not turn up after day 1 how would you repay?


So far I assume the only records on your credit files will be an overdraft.


Now can you see they want to see income first?

Poppops

I got a graduate loan with HSBC before I started work. In fact I got it before my graduation day and was able to buy much needed work clothes. I had to go into the branch with proof of my job (I used induction and joining instructions plus my offer letter).

Just a thought though. your salary sounds pretty good for a graduate. Are you working for a big firm as many provide their own graduate welfare schemes. The company I work for will loan the deposit and rent in advance but it isn't something they advertise

Tixy

I believe that graduate loans have changed a lot recently. It used to be possible to obtain a loan with a guaranteed job offer but I am not sure if any banks still offer this. In fact I think some banks have pulled out of graduate loans altogether and would now simply offer a personal loan (and their normal lending criteria).

As suggested above perhaps your employer offers some sort of graduate assistance or even relocation expenses/loans.

Failing that perhaps you could rent a room in a shared house for the first few months as that will have a much lower upfront cost, rent will be cheaper and include things like internet etc and will usually be furnished. If you are moving to a new town/city then it also gives you time to check the area out and perhaps better decide whereabouts you would like to rent.