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Personal loan eligibility
Thinking of getting a personal loan, but not sure whether you’re eligible? Use our quick and easy eligibility checker.
Our FAQs will help you know more about eligibility and how you can improve yours, before you check.
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Before lenders approve loans, they need to do some checks to make sure you are eligible to borrow from them and that you’re likely to pay it back.
There may be a number of different eligibility checks, such as:
- your personal details: for example, with Halifax you must be over 18 years old and a UK resident.
- your income: if you have a regular income, you may stand a better chance of being approved for a loan.
- your credit history: your credit score and how you use your current account shows if you have a history of managing your finances well. A good credit score makes you a lower risk to lend to and may mean you can borrow more money at a better rate.
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We offer personal loans in amounts ranging from £1,000 to £50,000. However, lending and rate are subject to additional affordability checks and our assessment of your circumstances.
If you have a Halifax Personal Current Account, you can log into your Online Banking to see how much you could borrow and if you're likely to be approved.
If you’re a new customer, you can get an idea of how much you could borrow and how much your loan might cost by using our loan calculator - this is an illustration only. To find out your personalised rate, please apply.
If you’re approved, the rate you receive will be based on your personal circumstances, and the amount and period you wish to borrow over.
We want you to find a product that’s right for your circumstances, which is why we adhere to the Standards of Lending Practice, which are monitored and enforced by the Lending Standards Board.
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Similar to the loan amount, how long you have to pay a loan back – known as the ‘term’ – differs. We offer terms between 1-7 years.
You get to choose how long you want to pay the loan back over, but typically the shorter the term, the higher your monthly repayments will be. If you choose a longer term, your monthly repayments may be lower but this usually means that you pay back more overall.
You will need to decide whether a shorter term with less interest or a longer term with more interest is best for your personal circumstances. Using our budget calculator could help you decide.
You can pay your loan back early if you want to, but we may charge you up to 58 days’ interest to do so.
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There are a number of ways you can improve your eligibility for a loan, including:
- Registering on the electoral roll. This helps to improve your credibility and allows lenders to confirm your name and address. You can do this on the Gov.uk website.
- Pay your bills on time. This shows you are good at managing your finances. If you miss payments then this could have a negative impact on your credit score, which could affect the interest rate offered to you or your application’s success.
- Reduce any outstanding debts. Having too much debt can negatively affect your credit score. Where possible, try and pay off as much of your debts as you can. If you need help to get your finances back on track, check out our Money Worries page for helpful tips and advice.
- Consider closing unused credit and store cards. If you have access to a large amount of credit, even if you don’t use it, it can hurt your application. However, if you have any long-standing accounts with good credit history, it could be worth leaving these ones open.
- Limit your credit applications. If you make a lot of applications in a short space of time, this might be seen as a sign that you’re relying on credit too much and may have problems paying it back. All applications are added to your credit history and therefore can impact your credit score negatively.
- Check your credit history for mistakes. Being linked to a partner or flatmate with a poor credit score or fraudulent activity can affect your own credit score. You have the right to request a free copy of your credit report, either online or in writing from credit reference agencies such as Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. As there will be some overlap in the information they hold about you, it may be worthwhile requesting a report from all three.
Representative example
You could borrow £10,000 over 48 months with 48 monthly repayments of £236.73. Total amount repayable will be £11,363.04 Representative 6.6% APR, Annual interest rate (fixed) 6.41%.
This representative APR applies to loans of £7,500 to £25,000 over 1 to 5 years. Other terms and loan amounts are available at different rates. If you qualify for a loan we’ll tell you the rate that applies when you get your personalised quote. The maximum APR you could be offered is 29.9% APR.
Loans are provided by Halifax.