Stamps? Check. Financial services? Check. Post Office Money now offers first class personal loans, and you can check if you're eligible in minutes, without affecting your credit score, using the "Fast Checker".
Post Office Money provides a range of financial services including credit cards, current accounts, insurance products, mortgages and personal loans to customers in the United Kingdom through Post Office branches, online and over the phone. If you apply for a personal loan from Post Office Money online, in most cases you will receive an instant decision.
Post Office Personal Loans are provided by Bank of Ireland UK. Post Office Limited is a credit broker and not a lender.
Fast, flexible loans from Post Office Money
Borrow from £1,000 to £25,000
Instant decision in most cases
Fixed rate and fixed monthly payments over the whole term
Applications from self-employed considered
Representative example: Borrow £15,001.00 over 3 years at a rate of 3.1% p.a. (fixed). Representative APR 3.1% and total payable £15,718.32 in monthly repayments of £436.62.
Important information: You should always refer to your loan agreement for exact repayment amounts as they may vary from our results.
Warning: late repayments can cause you serious money problems. See our debt help guides.
Key features of Post Office Money personal loans
Post Office Money personal loans are unsecured loans – meaning they’re be based on creditworthiness, rather than using property, a vehicle or other asset as collateral. The loans are available over a period of 1-3 years for loans between £1,000 and £3,000, 1-5 years for loans between £3,001 and £15,000, and for 1-7 years for loans between £15,001 and £25,000.
While Post Office Money rates are normally competitive, the advertised representative APR may not be the rate you’ll receive: Post Office Money will offer you a rate based on factors including your credit score, your income and your expenditure.
Loan terms from 1 to 7 years. Note the terms available vary according to the loan amount.
Loan amounts from £1,000 to £25,000.
Fixed monthly repayments. The interest rate is fixed, meaning you’ll pay the same amount each month, and you know how much the loan is going to cost you overall.
Quick decision. Instant online decision made in most cases.
Quick access to funds. After the relevant documents have been received and your loan approved, funds can be in your account as soon as the next day.
No penalties for overpayment.
What is APR?
If you’re comparing any credit-based products, it won’t be long before you’ll come across the Annual Percentage Rate (APR). This figure is designed to provide an annual summary of the cost of a loan. It takes into account both interest and any mandatory charges to be paid (for example an arrangement fee) over the duration of a loan.
All lenders must calculate the APR of their products in the same way, and must tell you the APR before you sign an agreement, so for consumers it can be a handy tool for comparison.
Bear in mind, however, that lenders are only obliged to award this rate to 51% of those who take out the loan – the other 49% could pay more. That’s why it’s often referred to as the representative APR.
Am I eligible for a Post Office Money personal loan?
You should only apply for a Post Office Money personal loan if you’re certain you can meet the repayment terms, and you meet the following criteria:
You must be aged over 21, and no older than 70 when the loan ends.
Have an annual income of at least £12,000. If you’re self employed, you must have been employed for a minimum of 2 years.
Have lived in the UK for at least three years.
Have a UK based bank or building society account that can pay direct debits.
Have a good credit rating without a history of County Court Judgement or bankruptcy.
How do I apply?
If you’ve decided that a Post Office Money personal loan is for you, then make sure you have the following information handy for your application:
Your address details for the past three years.
Your current income and details of your monthly outgoings.
The sort code and account number of your bank or building society account.
Before you apply, it’s a smart idea to check your eligibility using Post Office Money’s “Fast Checker”. This will give you a clear indication of the likelihood that your application would be approved, plus an estimate of the rate you’d be offered.
Pros and cons
Pros
Competitive interest rates. Post Office Money is frequently to found battling it out at the top of comparison tables for the cheapest loan rates.
Eligibility checker. Like most lenders, Post Office Money can now give you a clear indication as to your likelihood of being approved for a loan, before you apply.
Instant decisions. Most of the time, you’ll get an decision on your application within seconds.
Next day funding facility. Your loan may be funded the next day, although Post Office Money doesn’t clarify exactly when this facility is available (loan companies sometimes don’t transfer funds outside of office hours).
Flexibility over early repayment. There’s no penalty fee for paying some or all of your loan ahead of time, and if you do overpay, you can ask to shorten your loan or reduce your remaining monthly repayments (choosing the former will usually work out cheaper).
Cons
You’ll need good credit. Rates this low usually mean you’ll need a decent credit record to get approved.
No repayment holiday option. While some lenders give you a month or two at the beginning of your loan before you need to start making repayments, Post Office Money has opted not to. On the other hand, repayment holidays push up the overall cost of borrowing significantly.
Tracking your loan could be easier. If you want to check your balance or change any details, you’ll need to phone Post Office Money.
Frequently asked questions
Post Office Money offer a “Fast Checker” quotation tool which enables you to find out how likely you are to be accepted without impacting your credit score. All you need to do is provide a few details. Working with credit reference agencies, Post Office Money does a pre-application check of your credit record. You’ll be able to see the search on your file, but it won’t show up to other organisations. This means there’s no impact to your credit rating or ability to borrow money.
No, not necessarily – Post Office Money is only obliged to award this rate to 51% of its customers. Fortunately you can get a good idea of the rate you would be offered – without affecting your credit score – by using the “fast checker” on Post Office Money's loans page.
Yes, you can. You’ll need to declare that this is the purpose of the loan during the application process.
Yes. You’ll have 14 calendar days from the day after you receive your acceptance letter to withdraw from your agreement. If you decide you no longer want a loan, just call 0800 169 2000 within this 14 day period.
At the time of writing, Post Office Money does not offer this service.
Yes, Post Office Money allows you to change this once per year.
Yes. Let Post Office Money know you’d like to pay off the loan early orally or in writing. If you repay part of your loan early, unless you request otherwise, your monthly repayment amount will stay the same but you will potentially repay the loan more quickly.
It’s important to check the early repayment terms before applying for any personal loan. If there’s a likelihood that you’ll be able to clear a loan early, then good early-repayment terms should be an important factor in deciding which lender to use, as you could potentially pay less overall. Many lenders will not charge a penalty for overpayment, but that does not necessarily mean you will pay less in interest.
We exist to help you find better. The offers we've compared on this page are from a range of products whose details we can track; we don't cover every product on the market...yet. Unless we've indicated otherwise, products are shown in no particular order or ranking. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't product ratings, although we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it; this is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, it's wise to consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own financial circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you.
Chris Lilly is a publisher at finder.com. He's a specialist in credit-based products including business and personal loans, mortgages and credit cards, and is passionate about helping UK consumers make informed decisions about their borrowing. In his spare time Chris likes forcing his kids to exercise more.
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Warning: late repayments can cause you serious money problems. See our debt help guides.
