It seems to me that every other advert on the television and all the back pages of the TV listing guides are filled with companies offering loans at cheap rates. If you need to borrow money, deciding which one to approach is a daunting matter.
You might be organized and search the high streets and internet for the company offering the cheapest rate. I personally think that this is a really smart thing to do – but you might also feel more comfortable borrowing money from a company that exists in your high street and has a name that you recognize.
The Nationwide Building Society offer both secured and unsecured personal loans that can be used for almost any purpose. Secured loans are secured on your property, whereas unsecured loans are not. You do need to be over 18 to apply, but you do not need to be a Nationwide customer. Its possible to apply for a joint loan or a single applicant loan and your income must be greater than £400 month.
If you do decide to go into the branch to apply for a loan, the staff are very polite and courteous. They ask you about your income and your outgoings and then work out if you can afford to repay any money they might lend you. They will not lend you money if they feel that you will not be able to pay it back. This might seem obvious but you only have to see how much debt some people are in to know that this is not the policy with all companies.
The staff will assist you in filling out the application form, which is one double sided sheet of A4. It asks all the usual questions ( name, address, employment details, income and outgoings) and takes less than ten minutes to complete. Then they go into another room ( presumably to make a phone call to the department that decides whether to lend you the money or not) and come back shortly after letting you know there and then if your loan application has been successful. If you apply in the branch, you do need to take in your last three months pay slips and proof of identity.
You can also apply for a loan online or over the phone, but I have not had any personal experience of applying either of these ways, so I don’t know how easy it is.
Should you find yourself in a position that you can repay the loan early, then they rebate you a percentage of the total interest asked. For example, if you borrowed money over 60 months, but found you could repay it in 24 months, then they would give you an interest rebate of 36% of the total interest charge.
They do offer you the option of taking out “loan care” which will pay your loan for you if you are unwell, made redundant etc. as always, there are exceptions to what is covered so its worth checking if you need or want this extra cover.
At the moment, the APR is 8.9% fixed for the life of the loan on unsecured loans, and 8% on secured loans.
I like the fact that you can talk to real people face to face about what is best for you, and the speedy response to the application. The staff are very helpful and the interest rate seems very reasonable. For these reasons, I would recommend that if you are looking to borrow money, that you investigate if they are the right company for you.
More details
Competitiveness of APR
Good
Product package
Good
Quality of Customer Service
Excellent
Reward Scheme
average
Security and Privacy
average
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