Personal Loan Rates Continue to Rise

Dramatic cuts in the base rate have done little to lower the cost of loan rates, which have increased at an even higher rate than the rates of credit cards.

Even for borrowers looking to take out a personal loan who have an excellent credit rating, the average rate is 12.3 per cent, according to figures from Defaqto.

That marks a significant rise since September, when the base rate was 5 per cent and the average personal loan rate for those with an excellent credit rating was 10.8 per cent.

The best deal around for people with an excellent credit rating is from the Co-operative bank, with a rate of 7.8 per cent.

The same loan from the Co-Operative was the most affordable last year as well, however, back then the rate they offered for that product was 7.6 per cent.

David Black, analyst at independent data compiler Defaqto says that the recent trend among lenders has been to push up rates and that this is down to a number of factors.

'Lenders are under more funding pressures now and they are reluctant to lend to all but those with top credit scores,' he says.

'The imminent loss of payment protection insurance sales will also hit lenders' profits so they are looking to stretch their margins.'

Mr Black is referring to a recent clampdown by the authorities which stipulated that lenders can no longer sell PPI at the same time as selling a loan to the customer.

Under the new rules, lenders will now have to wait 14 days before contacting customers and enquiring as to whether they are interested in taking out PPI.

Some customers are not surprised at the new rules regarding PPI, with Sara from Cheshire saying:

"This should not come as a surprise to anyone. PPI cross subsidised loan rates so the campaign to get rid of the product rather than improve it has done more harm than good."

Alan O'Sullivan, credit reporter with This is Money, says: "This may all sound very negative, but there is no need to panic. Loan rates in general are not increasing as much as credit card rates and, unlike these variable rates, your loan rate will not rise as it is fixed for the length of your agreement."

He then went on to highlight the good deals that are still around to certain customers, saying: "Other great deals on, for example, a £5,000 loan over three years, include Sainsbury's Finance (8.8%), Tesco Personal Finance (8.9%), Alliance & Leicester (8.9%) and Lombard Direct (9.4%), to name a few."

All these rates fall well below the average for lending rates to borrowers with an excellent credit rating, which is 12.3 per cent.

However, he did point out that these loans are by no means available to everyone, saying: "You're going to need an excellent credit file to get them - no missed credit card payments over the past six months - but they are nonetheless there for the taking."