£15,000 loan guide: How to borrow £15k today

If you’re looking to borrow £15,000, you’ll likely be looking at some form of loan.

There are many options open to you when it comes to loans of this size, each with their own benefits and uses. The hard part is deciding who and where to get it from.

At Aro, our aim is to make it easier for you. We do the hard work by comparing a variety of lenders and suggesting the ones that best suit your needs. All you have to do is enter a little background information, along with how much you want to borrow, and we’ll do the rest.

If you’re a homeowner, you can use both secured and unsecured loans to borrow £15,000. It’s up to you which to choose. If you’re not a homeowner, only unsecured loans are an option for you. That’s why it’s important for you to consider which one best suits your financial circumstances.

Secured loan

In a secured loan, the debt is leveraged against an owned asset, typically your home—which is why they are often referred to as homeowner loans.

Secured loans often come with a more favourable interest rate, longer repayment term, and focus less on your credit score.

This means you may be more likely to be accepted for a secured £15,000 loan, but it doesn’t come without risks. If you fail to keep up with repayments on a secured loan or your mortgage, your home may be repossessed.

A secured loan can be ideal for homeowners who would prefer a longer repayment term, and who can leverage their home with enough financial security to make the regular payments.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or any other debt secured on it.

Unsecured loan

Unlike a secured loan, an unsecured loan isn’t tied to any owned assets. Instead, the lender will use your borrowing history to assess your repayment ability.

Those with weaker credit scores may find it more difficult to take out an unsecured personal loan, particularly for a large amount such as £15,000. However, this doesn’t mean a low credit score will lead to an application being rejected. In some cases, the money lender may offer lower than the desired amount or a higher interest rate.

Unsecured loans are better for those who do not own a home and make a great choice for anyone with a strong credit score.

Your eligibility for a £15,000 loan comes down to how a lender perceives your financial circumstances and borrowing risk.

It is true that different lenders will use different criteria and models to assess your lending eligibility, most will include the following in their decision:

• Your credit history or credit score
• Your income
• Your debt to income ratio (the amount that you already pay towards debts)
• Loan purpose (such as debt consolidation, or making home improvements)

The easiest way to check whether or not you are eligible is by using our free eligibility checker tool. It’s quick to do and provides you with a list of lenders best suited to you. Even better yet, it doesn’t impact your credit score.

Your credit score is a number value, used to grade your credit history, based on your credit report. It takes into account all of your past borrowing and debt repayment history.

A lower credit score isn’t always the result of unreliable repayments. It can also be caused by a lack of borrowing history. Both can make you appear a riskier lending option on paper, in the eyes of a financier.

For larger amounts, such as £15,000, you’re going to need a consistent borrowing history. Money lenders want to see proof that you’ve borrowed and repaid regularly and on time. If they can find this in your credit report, then you’ll likely be accepted for the loan.

If lenders cannot find this history, it doesn’t mean that you can’t borrow £15,000. Instead, you might be offered a higher interest rate, or a lower amount than you had originally requested.

Before taking out a loan, it’s easy to browse the options available to you with our tools, and select one with a higher chance of approval. Searching through our service can help you to find the right options, without hurting your credit score.

Applying online couldn’t be simpler, our tools make it easy to browse options from multiple lenders and instantly borrow money in a few clicks.

All you have to do is enter some basic information about yourself in our eligibility checker and we will run a soft search. Once complete, if you’re eligible we will give you a set of suitable options, both secured (if you’re a homeowner) and unsecured for you to choose from.

If you find a lender that suits your needs, you can then make a formal application. The lender will run a hard credit check—this will appear in your credit report.

If you pass their background checks, they will offer you a proposed loan agreement. This will include:

• The loan amount
• The repayment term
• Any additional fees or charges that you will need to be aware of
• The total amount expected to be paid at the end of the repayment term

Pay close attention to this and read it carefully. If you don’t think you can afford the suggested repayment schedule, do not take out the loan. If you are happy with the agreement, you can accept and receive the agreed amount.

Typically, the funds for an unsecured personal loan will arrive fairly quickly, more often than not on the same day. With unsecured loans, the lender has already approved the loan before making you the offer. So, the only thing they have to do on their side is process the transfer.

For secured loans this is different and can take around 10 days for the loan to be processed and the funds entered into your account. However, the time between you accepting the terms and the money being in your account largely depends on how quickly you can provide all the requested documents relating to your home ownership.

Whether or not you can afford to borrow £15,000 will depend on your current and future financial circumstances.

The best way to work this out is by looking at your monthly income and then determining what you have left over once all payments, bills and living costs have come out. If there is enough money left over to cover the monthly loan repayment, then you can afford to borrow £15,000.

If the monthly repayments look unaffordable, try looking for a longer loan term. The loan repayment will be spread out over a longer period of time, making the monthly payments more manageable. However, it does come at the cost of a higher total amount repaid at the end of the agreement.

Many people take out a £15,000 loan to consolidate debts, improve their home or finance a new car. However, these are not the only reasons and can include:

• Debt consolidation
• Car loans
• Wedding loans
• Holiday loans
• Home improvement loans
• Home furnishing loans
• Caravan and motorhome loans
• Medical loans

The total amount you have to pay for and the time it takes to pay varies depending on the terms you agree to.

Here is a general guide with a representative APR to give you an idea.

Representative example: If you borrow £7,500 over 5 years at a representative APR of 19.7% and an annual rate of 19.7% (fixed) you would pay £190.93 per month. Total charge for credit will be £3,955.76. Total amount repayable is £11,455.76. Minimum repayment period is 12 months. The % APR rate you will be offered is dependent on your personal circumstances. Aro is a leading credit broker, not a lender.

As a general rule, aim to borrow as little as possible and repay it as quickly as possible. As an added benefit, frequent borrowing and repayment can help to boost your credit score.

Still unsure if a £15,000 loan is the right option for you? Double check by taking a quick look at our summary before making your next move.

Are you ready to borrow £15,000? Head over to our eligibility checker to see how much you’re able to borrow and find the right deal for your needs.