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118118Money.com

Loans from 118 118 Money

  • Borrow £1,000 - £5,000
  • Repay over 12 – 36 months
  • Check your eligibility with no impact to your credit score
Check my eligibility This won't affect your credit score

Representative example: Amount of credit £2,000 for 24 months. Interest rate: 41.2% pa (fixed). 24 scheduled monthly payments of £123.64. Total amount payable: £2,967.43 Representative 49.9% APR.

What is a loan?

A loan is a form of credit whereby you borrow a certain amount of money from a lender and agree to repay it (plus interest) back over a scheduled period.

They can be used for a number of purposes, ranging from spreading the cost of large purchases, covering unforeseen emergency expenses or even consolidating existing debts.

There are numerous different types of loans available and each one differs according to its features. From personal loans, payday loans, secured loans to car finance loans, each type of loan serves a very different purpose to another.

Applying for a loan is a serious commitment and one which should not be taken lightly. Loan repayments can be spread over years so doing your research and choosing the right type of loan is important.

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Representative APR 49.9%
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Representative example: Amount of credit: for months. Interest rate: 41.2% pa (fixed). scheduled monthly payments of . Total amount payable: . Representative 49.9% APR.
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What are the different types of loan?

Personal loans can be taken to pay for things like debt consolidation, car repairs or making home improvements. But each type of loan can be distinguished by the type of features it has. We’ve listed some examples of these features below:

Unsecured loans vs secured loans

Unsecured loans as the name suggests, are loans which don’t require anything to be secured against the amount. They can be for amounts ranging from £1,000 to £25,000 and are available from a number of lenders, though rates and terms can vary from one lender to another. Secured loans on the other hand are the exact opposite, whereby lenders will require an asset as security in case any repayment issues arise. In many instances, lenders can link these types of loans to valuable assets such as homes or cars. In the unfortunate event where repaying the loan becomes an issue, the lender can use the value of the asset to reclaim the loan amount. 118 118 Money personal loans are of the unsecured variety, so no assets are secured against the amount we lend to borrowers.

Guarantor loans vs non-guarantor loans

In some instances lenders can request a guarantor to be named on the loan. Should the original borrower be unable to repay the loan, the guarantor is liable to cover the repayment(s). Typically these are aimed at those with a bad or poor credit history, where a less than perfect credit history may not be viewed as favourable by lenders. A non-guarantor loan is essentially the opposite, where there are no requirements for a guarantor to be named on the account. A 118 118 Money personal loan has no requirement for a guarantor, and we do consider applications from those with an imperfect credit history.

 

Fixed rate vs variable rate loans

Fixed rate loans are designed in such a way that your interest rate remains the same over the duration of the loan term. By having a fixed rate loan, borrowers know exactly what the repayments are as these don’t change over the life of the loan. A variable rate however is one where the interest rate can fluctuate dependent on a number of different factors. Variable rate mortgages are a prime example of this type of borrowing form. 118 118 Money loans are fixed rate, so if you have a loan with us, you’ll know exactly what you’re repaying back.

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How do loans work?

A loan is a sum of money which is lent to an individual by a lender such as a bank, building society or other direct loan lender. Before you take out a loan, you might have some questions about how they work. We’ve created a helpful guide to explain this here:

Applying for a loan

With many personal loan providers you do have the ability to check if you’re likely to be accepted or not through the use of an eligibility checker. This usually involves a soft search credit check which doesn’t impact your credit score. If you use our eligibility checker, we initially complete a soft search, although if you choose to complete an entire application, this will require a full credit check which will show on your credit file. 


Repayment plans

When you take out a loan, you will agree a term over which you will repay it, typically 1 – 5 years for a personal loan. Before you sign your credit agreement, if it’s a fixed rate loan you'll see how many monthly repayments you will need to make, how much your monthly repayments will be and the total amount repayable. On a variable rate loan this may differ. With 118 118 Money, our loans range from £1,000 to £5,000 over 12 -36 months.

Charges for borrowing

When borrowing a loan, there is also a charge for borrowing the money, this is known as the interest rate. When you repay the loan, you’ll repay the loan amount plus the interest.  The annual percentage rate (APR) on a personal loan is a combination of the interest rate and any associated fees with the loan.

Your credit agreement

An agreement will be supplied, detailing all of the terms and conditions of the loan, including the APR, the loan amount, the repayment terms and time over which the loan will be repaid. This is called a credit agreement and you should make sure you are happy with the terms of that agreement before you go ahead.

Impact on your credit file

Your lender will share information with credit reference agencies. Making your payments in full and on time may have a impact on your credit file. However any missed or late payments can have a negative impact.

What can I use a loan for?

Loans can have various uses ranging from home renovations to buying and spreading the cost of a purchase. For example when buying a car, a loan can help with the cost by spreading the repayment over the agreed period. Home improvement loans are also a popular reason for people taking out loans. Sometimes personal loans can also help to cover unforeseen emergencies.

However, a loan is a serious financial commitment so what you plan to use it for should be a thoroughly considered undertaking. You should do your research, and also ensure that you are able to keep up with the agreed repayments over the term of the loan.

Why choose a loan from 118 118 Money?

With 118 118 Money you can borrow £1,000 to £5,000 (subject to affordability) and repay it monthly over a term of 12 - 36 months. Our loans are unsecured, and our eligibility checker will let you know if you’ll be accepted or not without impacting your credit score and before you complete a full application.

We also consider applications from those with a less than perfect credit history, so if you think you have bad credit, use our eligibility checker to see if you’re likely to be successful.

This does not impact your credit score unless you complete a full application. The interest rate you get will depend on your own circumstances.

See what our customers think of us by reading our reviews - we are currently rated 4.8 stars out of 5 on Trustpilot. (Correct as of March 2022)

Can I get a bad credit loan?

If you have had difficulties managing credit previously, or if you haven’t been able to make some of your credit repayments on time in the past, you could find it difficult to get approval for new credit from some lenders. You may be resigned to thinking a payday loan or a ‘bad credit loan’ are the only options available.  

But having bad credit doesn’t necessarily mean you can't get a loan; some providers may still be willing to lend to you.

118 118 Money do consider applications from those who may have had credit issues in the past, you can use our eligibility checker to see if you’re likely to be accepted or not. The eligibility checker feature doesn’t impact your credit score; however, should you choose to complete a full application, we will conduct a full credit search.

If you do have bad credit and you take out a loan, then you can use this as an opportunity to improve your credit score – make all of your repayments on time and manage any other credit line(s) you may have responsibly, and it might help you build a better credit report!

When are loans paid back?

When loans are paid back, and how long it takes you to repay your loan will depend on what you agree with your lender. When agreeing a repayment term, your income and expenditure is reviewed to make sure the loan is affordable over the term which is offered to you. You may have a time period in mind, but if your lender’s affordability assessment determines that the repayments are not affordable for you, a longer term may be suggested or they may not be able to offer you a loan at that moment.

Are there any alternatives to a loan?

There are alternatives available if for whatever reason you don’t think a personal loan is the most appropriate option for your circumstances.

A credit card is one such option. A key difference between a loan and a credit card is that with a card you can choose to utilise up to the credit limit or any amount below. So if you don’t require a large amount of borrowing, a credit card can be viewed as an alternative. The extent to which you consider this an alternative will be dictated by your own personal circumstances. Some credit cards can come with a lower interest rate than a loan. But your own credit score will be considered which influences whether you’re eligible for a card or not. You can use the 118 118 Money Credit Card eligibility checker or head over to our credit card page for more information on what we offer.

 

Apply for a 118 118 Money loan

Want to apply for a loan from 118 118 Money? You can try our eligibility check first to see if you’ll be accepted before you apply – and it won’t affect your credit rating.

Read what our customers think about us

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Loans FAQs

Yes. To be considered for one of our personal loans or credit card, we are required to complete a full credit check. This is a part of the full application criteria as it helps us when reviewing and deciding on your application. Using the eligibility checker doesn’t impact your credit score as this doesn’t leave a mark on your credit file.

When you are looking to borrow money, which loans you will be accepted for depend on your own individual circumstances. Lenders take into account your earnings, outgoings, your credit history (including whether you have repaid things in the past), whether you are employed or self-employed, and whether you are keeping up your payments on existing loans, credit cards, your mobile telephone and so on.

If you would like to see which loans you would be accepted for, then you could use a comparison site to see what is available to you. If you want to see if you qualify for a loan with a lender directly, many have an eligibility check which means you can check if you could get a loan before you go through a full application. Prior to using an eligibility check, a loan calculator is often available which will give a view on how much the monthly repayments may be, and what the total amount repayable will be based on the term and loan amount you want to borrow.

Whether loans can be paid off early will depend on the terms and conditions set out by the lender. Some lenders will allow you to overpay in full or partially at any time with no early repayment charges; so if you find yourself in the fortunate position where you can make an overpayment, or even pay your loan off early, then you could.

Paying off your loan early means that you will have one less expense to cover each month, giving you a little more financial freedom. It also means your outgoings will be less, and you will have more money to spend on other things, or even better – you can save it!

If you take out a loan with us and you want to repay early, that is fine – you can make a partial or full repayment at any time. Your interest is calculated over the term of your loan based on the APR and amount you borrow from us. More details on paying off a 118 118 Money loan early can be found in our loans FAQs.

 

You only need a guarantor if you are applying for guarantor loans. 118 118 Money does not offer guarantor loans, so you will be solely responsible for repaying your borrowing.

When making a lending decision, how much you earn is important, because it impacts your affordability and ability to repay your debt.

Don’t know your representative APR from your representative example? Confused by interest rate and interest charges? You are not the only borrower that feels this way, so here are some quick explanations for you:

  • Representative APR

o   Representative APR is what we expect at least 51% of our customers to get – in some cases, borrowers will get a different rate than the representative APR. The APR you get will always be based on your own circumstances.

 

  • Representative example

o   A representative example gives you an example of how much it might cost you to borrow a loan with a given lender and will allow you to compare several lenders with one another. Our representative example for our loan is:

Representative example: Amount of credit: £2,000 for 24 months. Interest rate: 41.2% pa (fixed). 24 scheduled monthly payments of £123.64. Total amount payable: £2,967.43 Representative 49.9% APR.

Want to apply for a loan from 118 118 Money?

You can try our eligibility check first to see if you’ll be accepted before you apply – and it won’t affect your credit rating.