Bank of Ireland
Good:
Competitive interest rates and they offer two payment holidays per year
Bad:
£65 arrangement fee added onto your loan
Verdict:
Cheaper rates for Bank of Ireland customers - if you want a bank loan, enquire at your own bank first
Bank of Ireland offer a range of personal loans between £5,000 and £25,000. They are available throughout mainland UK, however, if you live outside of Northern Ireland then you will need to have had an account with them for 6 months and you must have a good credit history to be eligible.
You can apply online or over the phone with Bank Of Ireland. To apply online, you need to complete their online application form. After completing their online application form, they will contact you within two business days to discuss the loan with you. If accepted, your forms and loan agreement will be posted out to you. You will need to sign these and send them back with any further documentation they may require. They do a final assessment on your documents and the application to make their final decision. The money will arrive in your account within 3 - 5 days of them receiving the forms. If you already have a Bank of Ireland account, you may even receive a payout the same day of your application.
This is not going to be the best option for you if don't have an account with them and live outside of Northern Ireland. The interest is reasonable, unless you are asking for a small amount of money for a short term, but this will depend on the credit searches they perform. If you have poor credit (i.e. late payments, CCJs or defaults) it isn't worth applying because you will not get accepted. An arrangement fee is also charged which you don't get with many of the other major banks but if you negotiate a good APR you will make this straight back. They do offer two payment breaks a year which means if you are struggling they can offer you breaks from making payments.
Loan Calculator (Representative 9%APR)
Loan Amount £
Loan Term months
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The Bank of Ireland are completely incompetent. Without going a rant - time and time again I have to ring them to try and fix their mistakes (the latest one being the 8th)!
Everything is so convoluted and complicated, they take ages to do anything and everything it seems, requires to send you a letter first. Operating with the Online system is several times slower than going to the bank directly. It's one of the worst web applications I ever seen, probably the worst bank web application and it is the worst bank I've ever dealt with.
I cannot believe how bad this bank is. Mistakes galore and an on-line banking system that would seem to have been written by a five year old it is so cumbersome. I moved a business account recently to this bank as well for better terms and cannot wait to move back out again even though it has cost a considerable sum to move in the first place.
After reading some reviews I wasn't very sure whether to go with Bank of Ireland or not, but I did and I got accepted by email 5 minutes after I completed the form. I phoned them and was offered a great rate of 10.9 APR. My paperwork arrived tuesday morning, sent it back that day and had money in my account by the end of the week.
Loans from £1000 to £25,000 - 5 years
- You must have a good credit history
- You must be over the age of 18
- You must have a bank account with direct debit facilities (Bank Of Ireland current account if applying outside of Northern Ireland)
- Confirm that you have met all your recent payments on your credit commitments (this includes mortgages, personal loans and hire purchase agreements)
- You must be employed, self-employed, retired (or receiving Disability Living Allowance because you are unable to work) and earning at least £700 per month
- Default Fee - £25.00
- Failed Direct Debit - £28.50
- You must pay the total amount of the repayments you still owe under the agreement (may be reduced by a rebate)
