Personal loans

A personal loan is an amount of money you borrow over a set period of time. You pay the loan back in fixed monthly payments, with a fixed interest rate. At Halifax you can take out a loan over between 1 and 7 years. We work out the details of your loan, such as the interest, based on several factors. These include the amount you ask to borrow and your monthly income and outgoings.

Should I consider a loan, credit card or overdraft?

You can use a personal loan for all sorts of things. For example, you could use it to buy a car, make home improvements or consolidate other debts. It can be for just about anything, but there are some restrictions.

We can’t lend you money for:

• speculative purchases, for example gambling, investments and share purchases
• any illegal purposes
• business related purposes
• purchase or lease of land or property, either full or part purchase (including deposit)
• timeshares and holiday clubs.

These limits apply whether you want to borrow money for yourself or to support someone else. For example, you can't borrow to give a family member a house deposit.

Yes, all of our personal loans are unsecured. This means we don’t ask for anything, such as your home, as security. Rates for unsecured personal loans are worked out on the amount of the loan, the length of the loan, and credit scores.

APR stands for annual percentage rate. You'll see it as a percentage.

It’s not just about the interest you’ll pay. APR factors in both interest and any fees that are automatically charged to your account. This gives you a good idea of the overall cost and is useful if you’re comparing loans or credit cards.

When you apply for a loan, we’ll tell you how much your repayments will be. This is a fixed amount that you will pay back each month until the loan is paid off. It also includes any interest charged. We’ll start taking the payments by direct debit the month after you apply – you can choose a date that suits you and change it if you need to.

You can make extra payments with no charge if you want to. But if you pay the loan off early, we may charge you up to 58 days’ interest.

If you miss a repayment, you will be charged £25. If you continue to miss repayments, you may be charged further.

Taking out a personal loan is a commitment, so it’s important to make sure it’s right for you. Depending on what you want to borrow money for, other borrowing options might be more suitable, such as a credit card or overdraft. It’s important to work out the full cost of each option by looking at any interest and fees that will be charged.

Learn more about the different borrowing options we offer.