Applying for a Loan

After choosing the loan you want, you have to complete an application form. The application asks for details of your existing financial commitments and income. The lender uses this to assess whether you can afford to take on the loan and repay it. If you are married, both you and your spouse must be named on the application form: The lender insists upon this.

The lender also contacts credit reference agencies to obtain a copy of your credit file. Your credit file indicates whether you have any outstanding county court judgments against you, are bankrupt, or have a history of defaulting on debts.

Lenders also use credit scoring, enabling them to work out what category of borrower you are, according to your personal circumstances. This enables it to work out what APR to charge you: The higher risk you appear, the higher the APR will be.

When the lender is happy with the result of its checks, it offers you a loan. It usually takes only a few hours or days to process an application, depending on the lender. If the lender isnt happy with its findings, you may be refused a loan.

As well as being a great place to search for a loan, the Internet also provides the easiest way of applying to borrow cash. And because fewer administration costs are involved, lenders tend to offer a lower APR if you apply for your loan online rather than via the post, in person at your local branch, or over the telephone.

If youve had difficulty repaying credit in the past, you may have a bad credit history. This history is unearthed when you apply for a new loan and the lender runs a credit check on you. As a result, your application may be turned down.

Its not only people with bad credit histories who are refused credit. If you dont have a credit history because youve never had a credit card, loan, or mortgage before, the lender wont be able to figure out whether you are a good risk or not. How can the lender tell whether you are going to make your repayments every month if you havent done this before? If youre self employed you may also find it more difficult to get credit, or if youve changed jobs recently. And moving around frequently doesnt look good either.

If any of these apply to you, dont give up just yet. A number of lenders specifically target people with bad credit histories or those who have difficulty getting a loan. If you apply to one of these lenders, you increase your chances of success but you also have to pay a higher APR " because you are perceived as being higher risk. This could be more than twice as much as the cheapest loan on the market, so the extra cost can be considerable.

Even if you do pay a higher APR initially, you may not always have to pay over the odds. Once you build up a payment history, it has the same effect as rebuilding your credit history (or creating a new one). This will go on your credit file, so when you apply for credit in the future it will count in your favor and you should be able to qualify for a standard loan with a lower APR.

Alternatively, if you are having difficulty getting an unsecured loan and are a homeowner, you can opt for a secured loan. Because the lender has the added benefit of security " in other words an ultimate claim to your property if you default on your repayments " it is more likely to consider lending you money.