Personal loans

Please check your eligibility to apply for a loan, and what Kent Savers looks at when making an approval decision.

You must be living or working in Kent and aged over 18.

You will need an income of £125 a week (or monthly equivalent) or more from salary, pension and/or benefits (excluding Housing benefit). We ask that you join as a member and commit to save at least £2.50 per week/ £10 a month.

We assess each application individually, taking into account income, expenditure, credit score/history, and whether we think you can afford the loan repayments. See our Loan Terms & Conditions for more information.

Yes. As part of your membership and/or loan application process, we may carry out certain checks on you with Experian, Equifax and/or Transunion (the credit reference agencies or ‘CRAs’).

Please see our Data Protection & Privacy Notice and Use of Credit Reference and Fraud Prevention Agencies documents – together, these set out how your personal information may be used when you apply to join or for a loan or are a member with us.

If a search reveals something that you have not declared to us, we will decline your loan application.

Yes. Your credit history is essentially information about the past, although we also consider your current situation, such as:

• Do you have sufficient income to cover your current commitments?
• If you have other debts, have you put in place a repayment plan with those creditors and been making payments to them?

Being able to say “yes” to questions like these will improve your chances of being offered a loan with Kent Savers. Please check if you are likely to be eligible for a Kent Savers loan.

The amount of loan depends on what you can afford and our current limits of between £300 to £1,000 for first-time members (£300-£600 for Child Benefit loans).

Once you have made at least 6 consecutive repayments to us on a loan as agreed, a Top-Up loan may be available to you.

Once you have built a good track record with Kent Savers and if you have a good credit history, you may be considered for a loan up to £5,000.

We’d like that. You can apply online to Top-Up your personal loan once you have made at least six of your repayments. You can track the progress of your current loan through our Members Area. The minimum Top-Up for a personal loan is £200. You can apply for as much Top-Up as you need,  subject to affordability, credit checks and our current loan limits.

You may have one loan with us at a time, so your existing loan balance is repaid by the Top-Up first, then the rest of the balance is available to you.

A Top-Up loan may have a different interest rate and/or loan term to your current loan, which means that you could pay more interest because of the Top-Up than you would with your current loan.

Our APR ranges from 25.9% to 42.6%, depending on the amount borrowed, your individual circumstance and the loan product selected.

Check your credit reports to understand information held on you that is available to lenders when you apply for a loan.

Try checking your credit record for free on  Credit Karma and ClearScore, or contact each of the CRAs below as information that each holds on you may differ (they may charge you a small fee for a copy of your report):

• Transunion, Consumer Services Team, One Park Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS3 1EP or call 0330 024 7574 or email consumer@transunion.co.uk
• Equifax, Customer Service Centre, PO Box 10036, Leicester, LE3 4FS or call 0800 014 2955
• Experian, Customer Support Centre, Nottingham NG80 7WF or call 0115 8286738 or email customerservices@uk.experian.com

Build up your credit score by, for example:

• Keeping a well-maintained credit card (staying well below the credit limit and paying off in full each month)
• Having some household bills in your name and paying them on time.
• Ensuring you are on the electoral roll at your current address.
• Being aware of your finances, your credit reports and correcting any errors.
• If you pay rent, report your rental payments to Credit Ladder, to recognise timely and full rental payments within your credit records held with Experian and Equifax.

When applying to Kent Savers for a loan, it may help if you:

• Are listed on the electoral roll at your current address.
• Set up a direct debit or standing order to Kent Savers and make at least one payment into your savings account before applying for a loan.
• Receive benefits, arrange for one of your benefits to be paid into your savings account with Kent Savers before applying for a loan.
• Establish a pattern of payments into your Kent Savers savings account to demonstrate that you can afford regular payments.
• If you have a partner and you are going to include your partner’s income as part of your loan application, we recommend that the application should be made by the partner with the largest income.

The most common reasons for this are:

• The total you already owe to other lenders makes a further loan unaffordable
• Concerns about whether you can afford the repayments for the amount of loan applied for
• Unpaid loans that you have with ourselves or other lenders, which may or may not be in default or have had a court judgment entered against them

If you are overstretched, a further loan might only put pressure on you.  Instead, consider contacting one of these reputable agencies for free advice on how to improve your circumstances or for help with looking through your finances, to identify any additional benefits available or expenses you can reduce or eliminate.

When applying for a loan with us, it’s important to get all supporting information back to us as soon as possible. We will close your application if it remains incomplete after one month, or you decide to withdraw.

Yes. Payroll Deduction is an ideal way to make regular payments towards your savings or loan. Under this scheme, an agreed amount is taken from your pay every month and paid into your Share account or to repay a Kent Savers loan.

If you are working for a company that is part of our Payroll Deduction scheme just complete a Payroll Deduction Form.

Check if your employer is part of the scheme.

We offer reduced interest rates on employee loans through Payroll Deduction!