No Harm in Asking: You Can Now Apply For Our Loans Risk-Free

Members often ask us about their chances of being approved if they apply for a loan. And the truth is that although we can give some basic rules of thumb, we can’t say for sure until our Loans Team has been through all the information in your application and reached a considered decision.

We get it though. Nobody likes uncertainty.

That’s why, from this week, you’ll be able to apply risk-free for all of our loan products. This means you don’t have to worry about a negative impact if we can’t approve your loan. Money can be stressful at the best of times, so hopefully that is one less thing to worry about.

How It Works

Like most lenders, when you apply for a loan with us, we run a credit check to learn more about your borrowing history. In the past, this credit search left a ‘footprint’ on your credit file. This gave other lenders the ability to see that you had applied for a loan with us and whether or not we said yes.

This can sometimes cause people problems. If lenders see lots of recent applications on your credit file, they may see this as indicating that you are in financial difficulty and therefore riskier to lend to. Or if they see a string of refused applications, it might make them more likely to reject your application as well. That’s why, usually, if you’ve recently been turned down for credit, one of the worst things you can do for your credit rating is to keep on applying.

You know the phrase ‘no harm in asking?’ Well, for a long time, that’s just not been true when it comes to borrowing money.

We don’t think that’s fair. Even if we, like most lenders, can’t say yes to everyone, we certainly don’t think you should be penalised just for asking us for a loan.

Changes We’ve Made

That’s why, at London Mutual, we’ve been working over the past few months to introduce ‘soft search’ across all of our loans. This is now live. This change means that whenever you apply for a loan with us, you won’t have to worry about any negative consequences from applying.

If you apply for a loan and we have to say ‘no’, there will be no record of this on your credit file. This removes the risk that our decision might influence other lenders if you later decide to try applying somewhere else.

If we approve your loan application, we’ll begin reporting it to credit reference agencies as soon as you make your first payment. As long as you keep up with payments and pay the agreed amount each month on time, then the impact on your credit file will be positive. Other lenders will be able to see that you are able to keep to the terms of your loan agreement. This may make them more likely to approve you in the future, and offer you higher credit limits and/or lower rates.

We can’t guarantee that we’ll always be able to approve every application, but, from today, we can guarantee that you won’t be penalised for applying. After all, there should be no harm in asking.