Liberty Credit Union
Good:
Low interest rates, low monthly repayments, no extra charges or hidden fees
Bad:
Must start to save with them to prove you can afford repayments before you can apply for a loan
Verdict:
Small financial business servicing the local community - must live or work in the borough of Havering
You must live or work in the borough of Havering 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 and you can apply for a loan after you have been saving with them.
First you will need to become a member of the union. To apply for a loan, you need to complete the Loan Application Form (see example below), which you can download from their website, pick up from their office or request to be sent to you. All loans are reviewed by the Loan Officer then by the Credit Committee meeting. They will inform you of their decision as soon as possible and you will be asked to visit one of their 10 branches in Leeds to become a member and prove your identity.
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 cannot manage your loan online so if you need to make changes, you need to contact them or go into a branch. 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.
Main Office
Monday-Friday: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Barking Leisure Centre
Tuesday: 11:00am-2:00pm
Dagenham Library
Thursday: 11:00am-1:30pm
Loan Calculator (Representative 12.68%APR)
Loan Amount £
Loan Term months
Monthly Repayment
Total Repayment
Loading, please wait...
My wife and I recently refinanced our mortgage at Liberty First Credit Union. Everything stated out great until the appraisal process. The appraiser made several mistakes on the appraisal that affected the loan. Liberty First agreed with the mistakes made and did refund the appraisal fee to us and we went ahead and proceeded with the closing of the loan (after 3 months!). Our loan officer, Peter Peterson, told us what we needed to pay for closing costs and escrow fees. We supplied all info to him that he asked for. Our loan has been closed now for almost a month and we were just notified that we did not pay enough in our escrow closing fees for our homeowners insurance. Becuase of this, we have to double our payments for our homeowners insurance for the next 10 months! I contacted Pete Peterson and his response was that there was no way for him to know ho much our insurance premium dues were before closing. Well, he could have asked us or asked our insurance agent because he had all of the contact info he needed! He never once told us that we would have to pay double our insurance payments. If he would have told us this upfrount, we would have tried to come up with the extra money at closing or cancel the closing of the loan. Instead he said nothing and now we are forced to pay this extra expense. Any loan officer should know to ask these type of questions before the loan closes and to also disclose any extra fees before closing. Because of this, my wife and I are transfering all of our loans (refinancing) to a different bank and taking our business elsewhere.
Loans up to £10,000 - 3 years
- You need: two forms of ID and evidence of income and monthly expenses
- You don't need to have a good credit history
- You need to be 18 years of age
- It doesn't matter if you are employed, unemployed, on benefits, a carer, a homemaker or on Job Seeker's Allowance, anyone can apply
- You don't need to have been a UK resident for any specified length of time
- You don't need to have a bank account
- You must live or work in the borough of Havering to become a member
