Average personal loan rate 'up by 20 per cent' in 2008
Publication date | 06/01/2009
A new study released yesterday (December 22nd) by a leading financial services website has suggested that the average personal loan rate has trebled in the past 12 months.
MoneyExpert.com conducted research which found that the average rate on a £5,000 loan was 10.65 per cent at the start of 2008, but that figure is now 29.40 per cent.
Furthermore, an overview of personal loans in January revealed that 74 per cent of deals were under ten per cent, compared to the current total of 31 per cent.
Sean Gardner, chief executive of the website, said: "With unemployment on the up, lenders are increasingly thinking twice before offering money they're much less sure they'll get back.
"The cost of this risk is being passed on to us all with higher APRs and fewer products available."
Despite the revelations, aap has found that not all Britons need to be saddling themselves with debt in the current economic climate by taking out personal loans.
The UK's leading endowment policy market maker has noted that some people have been selling their underperforming policies, getting more than the surrender value and subsequently using the extra cash to cover unavoidable short-term expenses.
The British Bankers' Association confirmed today that mortgage approvals in the UK fell to their lowest levels since 1994 during November.
