How long until my short-term loan rates return to what they were?

TomDole

In November last year I took out a short term loan of £8k at 2.9% over 4 years. I did this to buy a car, and on the day of exchange the seller pulled out.

The company I went with didn’t have any charge to pay the loan back early, so I paid the loan back in full the next day.

Fast forward a month or two and I go to buy another car. Same website. Same loan amount. My application resulted in an APR of 22% for the same loan.

I’m dealing with three really frustrating things:

1. My credit report showed £8k short term debt in my account, despite it being paid off after two days. It was only less than a fortnight ago that the loan has finally cleared from my report, after being repaid in November.

2. My short term loan APR has rose astronomically. On comparison sites I’m looking at 15-25% APR for the same loan that has 2.9% 3 months ago.

3. My credit score is still the same. In fact, it even rose a couple points. My ClearScore rating is 493.

Can anyone advise me on when I can expect my short term loan rates to go back to normal? Any help would be hugely appreciated.

[Deleted User]

No. Lenders will review your application against their own criteria.

None of them are using your credit scores.

However, going back to the same provider was unlikely to be the best move, having already made them incur costs for the original loan.

Try an eligibility checker or two to see where best to apply. But wait for the £8k loan to show as satisfied on your files (check all three).