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Guarantor loans
Here are our picks for personal loans for a range of circumstances:
Looking for the best personal loan available? The truth is that the “best” loan will entirely depend on your personal circumstances, your credit rating and how much you want to borrow. To help you with this part, we’ve curated a list of the best personal loans by credit status and size of the loan so you’ll get a better idea of which lenders are more suitable for you. We’ve also added a wealth of tips and advice to ensure that you’re able to confidently decide which is the best personal loan for you.
Already know what type of loan you need? Start providers.
While the best personal loans will depend on how much you want to borrow, in general you’ll find that the better your credit score and history, the better the rate you’ll receive. For personal loans over £7,500, you are likely to be offered a rate around 3% if you have a fair credit rating.
Post Office Money® Personal Loan
8.1%
APR representative
£25,000
Max loan
1-7 years
Loan terms
Age | 21 or over |
---|---|
Minimum income | £12000.00 Per Annum |
Credit ratings | Good |
Soft credit search | Yes |
Joint applications | No |
Instant decision | Yes |
Repayment frequency | Monthly |
If you have bad credit or a limited credit history, you may find it hard to be approved for a personal loan. However, you still have loan options, but are unlikely to be offered the best rates. Instead, you may want to consider a guarantor loan or secured loan, especially if you find you’re only being offered unfavourable loan terms on a regular personal loan.
Oplo Homeowners Unsecured Loan
31.6%
APR representative
£15,000
Max loan
2-6 years
Loan terms
Age | 21 or over |
---|---|
Minimum income | £15000.00 Per Annum |
Credit ratings | Poor or Fair |
Soft credit search | Yes |
Joint applications | No |
Instant decision | Yes |
Repayment frequency | 4 Weekly, Monthly, Weekly |
These days, many lenders will offer instant decisions or pre-approval on personal loans, but some will still take a couple of days to send you the money. However, there are some lenders that will fund your loan the same day and some lenders will even do it within a couple of hours of you being approved.
Lendable Personal Loan
£20,000
Max loan
1-5 years
Loan terms
Age | 18 or over |
---|---|
Minimum income | £800.00 or more per month |
Soft credit search | Yes |
Joint applications | Yes |
Instant decision | Yes |
If you have limited or poor credit history, you may have a better chance of getting approved for a guarantor loan. By having a friend or family member act as a guarantor for your loan, you reduce the risk for the lender, which increases your chance of approval, and may also help you get better loan terms and rates.
Guarantor My Loan
48.9%
APR representative
£10,000
Max loan
1-5 years
Loan terms
Age | 21 or over |
---|---|
Credit ratings | Poor |
Repayment frequency | Weekly, Fortnightly |
Secured loans are a specific type of personal loan that requires you to use the equity you have in your property as collateral against the loan. In return, you’ll generally receive more favourable loan terms than you would with an unsecured loan, including much more competitive rates, loan amounts and terms.
Use our free secured loans calculator
This is a non-exhaustive list of the features of personal loans that you can use to differentiate lenders in the UK, and to start to home in on the right products for your needs.
In December 2021, we ran an independent customer satisfaction survey on personal loan providers. We received answers from 908 personal loan customers, who gave us their opinion on their current lender.
We asked respondents how satisfied they are with their personal loan provider (giving a rating from one to five) and whether they would recommend the lender to a friend. We converted the results into star ratings.
Table ordered by percentage of customers who said they’d recommend the brand to a friend (recommendation score)
Overall satisfaction | Customers who’d recommend | Lender | Review | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
★★★★★ | 87% | ![]() | M&S Bank | Topping the poll for 2022, M&S is a stalwart of the British high street. Marks & Spencer was founded in 1884 and now offers personal loans up to £25,000 with competitive rates, plus discounts for M&S members. | Read our review |
★★★★★ | 83% | ![]() | Zopa | This year’s runner-up, Zopa is an online personal finance company. They provide personal loans with rates that are often lower than the high street lenders. | |
★★★★★ | 84% | ![]() | Santander | The Spanish banking giant has long been a fixture of the UK’s high street banking industry and offers personal loans up to £25,000 for those who are at least 21 years old. | Read our review |
★★★★★ | 83% | ![]() | NatWest | NatWest offers personal loans for existing customers only, meaning you’ll need to have had another NatWest product for at least 3 to 6 months. | Read our review |
★★★★★ | 80% | ![]() | Tesco | Tesco Bank has been offering personal loans for over 20 years. You can borrow up to £35,000 and can get an instant decision on your application. If you’re a Tesco Clubcard member, you may even be eligible for a discounted rate. | Read our review |
★★★★★ | 80% | HSBC | Founded in Hong Kong in 1865, and now one of the UK’s “Big Four” banks, HSBC provides personal loans for new and existing customers for up to 8 years. You can apply for a loan online or in person at an HSBC branch. | Read our review | |
★★★★★ | 77% | ![]() | Barclays | Barclays is another of the “Big Four” UK banks and has been in operation for over 300 years. It offers personal loans up to £50,000, with discounted rates available to Barclays current and premium account holders. | Read our review |
★★★★★ | 69% | ![]() | Pepper Money | A specialist lender offering second-charge mortgages, Pepper Money has financed over £500 million in secured loans for UK customers since 2014. Pepper Money will be rebranding to Pepper Money laster this year. | Read our review |
★★★★★ | 76% | ![]() | Halifax | Halifax offers personal loans for new and existing customers. Those who have a Halifax current account can even borrow up to £50,000. | Read our review |
★★★★★ | 66% | ![]() | Sainsbury’s | Sainbury’s Bank provides competitive personal loans of up to £40,000 for customers in the UK. Similar rival supermarket brands, Sainsbury’s also offers discounted personal loan rates to its Nectar cardholders. | Read our review |
★★★★★ | 68% | ![]() | Post Office | A government-owned retail post office company, the Post Office also provides financial products through its Post Office Money brand. It offers personal loans with competitive rates and flexible repayment terms. | Visit Post Office Money |
★★★★★ | 62% | ![]() | Likely Loans | A new entrant this year, Likely Loans is one of the few providers that will lend to people with lower credit scores without a guarantor. Formed in 2014, Likely Loans is part of Oakbrook Finance. | Read our review |
In December 2021, we ran an independent customer satisfaction survey on personal loan providers. We received answers from 908 personal loan customers, who gave us their opinion on their current lender.
We asked respondents how satisfied they are with their personal loan provider (giving a rating from one to five) and whether they would recommend the lender to a friend. We converted the results into star ratings and created a shortlist of the best-performing brands for our awards. Where there was a draw in terms of star ratings, we used the recommendation score (the percentage of customers who said they would recommend the lender to a friend) as a tie-breaker.
Full details of our star ratings for this sector are on the personal loans rating methodology page.
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
The customer satisfaction score (“You say”) is based on a survey of 908 customers carried out in December 2021.
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