Five tips for loan applicants
At Bradford District Credit Union we always go the extra mile to help members when they need a loan. Therefore, here are five tips for loan applicants to improve your chances of getting accepted.
- If you have an existing loan and want to apply for a further advance you must have paid off at least 30% of the original balance. Importantly, if you have paid off less, we will decline your application.
- Don’t apply if you are getting behind with other loans. Sometimes a loan is not the answer and you may be best seeking money advice. The Credit Union will use a credit check to see how much you owe and whether you’re up to date with your borrowing. Whilst the occassional missed payment won’t be a problem, if you’ve got recent defaults and missed payments we are likely to decline your application.
- Apply for what you can afford. If you’re not working the maximum first loan is £500. We will carefully look at how much you are paying out on credit each month. Applications may be declined if we think the amount is too high,
- When considering affordability, we prefer to use Open Banking to check your income and expenditure. Whilst we can use bank statements to carry out this assessment, Open Banking will be far quicker. Therefore, if we ask about bank statements we recommend Open Banking is selected when you apply for a loan. As a result you’ll get a decision much more quickly.
- A lower credit score isn’t an issue. However, it can only help if you take some simple actions to improve your score. Read more.
When we are more likely to say ‘no’
We hope these five tips for loan applicants are useful. Please note:
- Although we can accept a loan if you have defaults, you’re more likely to be accepted if you haven’t missed a payment in recent months.
- The same is true for County Court Judgments. Whilst an older CCJ won’t stand in your way, recent court action will probably prevent us from lending.
- We cannot consider an application if you are currently going through bankruptcy, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, Debt Relief Order or Debt Management Plan.
Read our money tips for more useful information.