Plymouth & District Credit Union

Good:
If you struggled with finances in the past, they can help you rebuild your credit

Bad:
You must have been saving regularly with the credit union for 10 weeks before you can apply

Verdict:
Small financial business serving the local community for saving and borrowing - must be living or working within the City of Plymouth

You must be living or working within the City of Plymouth 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 for 10 weeks.

For your first loan you can borrow twice the amount of you savings up to a maximum of £150. For your second loan you can borrow twice the amount of your savings. For further loans, you can borrow up to three times the amount of your savings.

You don't need to become a member of the union first. To apply for a loan, you need to complete the Loan Application Form (see example below), which you can get from their office, a collection point or by downloading the form from their website. You can then send it off to the office or collection point. All loans are initially assessed by the Loan Officer and they will inform you of their decision ass soon as they can.

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, Wednesday & Friday: 10:00am - 12:30pm

For details of other collection points and opening times, please visit the following link: http://www.hopecust.co.uk/service-points.htm