Every year, millions of people make this simple mistake.
How would you like to save £1,000 or more with just a few minutes' work? Of course you would!
Here's how to do it: the next time that you need a personal loan (for instance, to pay for a car, holiday, wedding, divorce or home improvements), DON'T go to your local high-street branch. If you do visit your bank for a loan, be sure to wear a t-shirt with the following slogan, "I need a loan, so please take me for a ride today!"
Sadly, up to eight out of ten borrowers don't shop around for a personal loan. Being honest, loyal sheep (sorry, customers!), they trot along to the bank which holds their current account and blindly sign on the dotted line. However, the grim reality is that the high street is the worst place to find a personal loan, because it's jam-packed with Don't Buys, not Best Buys!
If you're after a cheap personal loan, by far the best place to shop around is online. You could do the spadework yourself by visiting a string of different banks' websites and using their online loan calculators to compare costs. However, the smart cookies let someone else do all the shopping around for them instead!
For the record, many of the UK's leading Best Buy loan providers advertise in the Fool's Personal Loan centre. What's more, our new, easy-to-use search engine allows you to trawl all of the lenders listed in the Moneyfacts database, so you're sure to find the right personal loan for you!
To prove that you can save a grand or more with a just few clicks of your mouse, I used the Fool's search engine to compare almost a hundred widely available personal loans. Here are the figures for a loan of £10,000 over four years without payment protection insurance, which is enough to buy a decent car:
| Provider | Typical
APR
(%) | Monthly
repayment
(£) | Total amount
repayable
(£) |
|---|
Abbey
Moneyback Bank
Northern Rock | 5.7 | 232.82 | 11,175.36 |
| Black Horse | 10.9 | 259.95 | 12,477.60 |
Hence, the most expensive loan costs a whopping £1,302.24 more than these three Best Buys, which proves that it really does pay to shop around! However, before you rush off to grab your lovely loan, there are a few sneaky tricks to watch out for. Wise up by reading Five Tips To Choose A Loan. Happy hunting!
More: Find your perfect personal loan in our new and improved Personal Loans centre!
