Zopa Home Improvement Loan
Good:
Peer to peer borrowing is a great way of getting a loan as you can get really low rates and there are no banks involved
Bad:
Only available to homeowners and can take a lot longer to get your money as another person has to want to lend you the money
Verdict:
Well-established, very well trusted peer to peer lender - applying is a longer process with this type of loan and you must have a good credit history
Zopa are a peer to peer lender, this means you are borrowing off other people and not banks. It's essentially very simple, some customers need a loan and some customers want to invest by lending money. Zopa bring these people together and offer a safe place for people to borrow and lend. You can borrow between £1,000 and £15,000 and if you want to pay your loan off early, it wont cost you any extra.
To apply, simply visit their website and sign up. It is at this stage that your information is reviewed by the underwriters and they will put you into one of their lending piers (various levels depending on your credit score with them). The pier you are put on will affect the APR that you are offered. You then create a listing to explain what sort of loan you are looking for. Once the offering process is complete (7-10 days), you'll have a list of people who have given you offers, which you can accept or reject. You can only accept if your loan is 100% funded.
The way that Zopa operates does mean that it can take a little longer to obtain the loan than if you went down the mainstream channel of banks, or other lenders. If you aren't in a massive rush and you pass their online identification, it can be a really interesting option. Don't let the high arrangement fee put you off as you will make this back through the cheaper APR on offer.
Please note: the calculations displayed above are for illustrative purposes only. Zopas' rates change on a daily basis. The time and date when this was last updated is shown below the calculations.
Loan Calculator (Representative 8.2%APR)
Loan Amount £
Loan Term months
Monthly Repayment
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Top stars from me! I applied Two days ago and the cash is in the bank. I have borrowed before from zopa. Do not be afraid to apply.I even saved money on interest paying off a loan early. Banks usually charge for this service. Excellent service with a user friendly process and fast pay out. Chuffed to bits.
Unfortunately the 'Zone of Possible Agreement ' turned out to be disappointingly small after all the fuss. There is no human contact either which is interesting since the website seems so friendly and wants to know all about you. It really is all one way. Don't get your hopes up guys, it's not all it's cracked up to be!
I hadn't heard of Zopa before I got my loan from them, but they've turned out to be great. Their online application form was straight forward enough and then I got a call from them to confirm a few details. After being approached by a suitable lender, the money was in my bank account a few days later. I can repay the loan early without paying a penalty. I would highly recommend.
Loans £1,000 - £15,000 up to 5 years
You can have the loan for either 3 OR 5 years
24 hours - CHAPS fee of £57.50
- You may not need to provide any documents, they will tell you when they receive your application
- You must have a bank account with direct debit facilities
- You must have been a UK resident for 3 years or longer
- You must be 26 years of age or over and a homeowner
- You must have an income that enables you to afford the loan you are looking for
- Over the last 3 years you must have used credit responsibly, been on the electoral register for all of your addresses and you must not have increased your borrowing recently
- If you miss payments, their Debt Collection agency may become involved to work out another means of payment
- None – the earlier you repay your loan, the more money you save
