Castle & Minster Credit Union Ltd

Good:
Members area on their website so you can manage your finances online

Bad:
You must have saved with them regularly for 3 months before you can apply for a loan

Verdict:
Small financial service within the community - must live or work in the Kirklees District

You must live or work in the Kirklees District to become a member.

Credit Unions offer a few different unsecured loans for any purpose. Their loans are fairly cheap and are based on your proven ability to repay, this is why they do a thorough check of your income and expenditures. You need to be a member but you can apply for a loan after you have been saving regularly with them for 3 months. You might be able to apply if you complete and income and expenditure statement and they accept it.

First you will need to become a member of the union. In order to apply for a loan, you need to complete an application at a branch or collection point. Or, download the form (see example below) from their website and send it in. A Loans Officer will review your application and they will let you know their decision as soon as possible.

The process may in some cases take up to two weeks so this is not a good option for you if you need your money quickly. You can manage your loan online so if you need to make changes it is easily accessible. With credit unions, the money you are borrowing is the money of other members, so if you fail to make payments, they take this very seriously. Their opening hours are very limited, which makes it difficult for you to go in to organise all your documents and sign your agreement. On the other hand, they want to help you rebuild your finances if you haven't got a good history. Their rates are extremely low and their repayments are really small each month.

Civic Centre 1
Monday & Wednesday: 9:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday: 9:00 - 5:00pm
Thursday & Friday: 10:00am - 2:30pm

For information on other Collection Point opening times please visit: http://www.castleandminster.co.uk/contact.php