Clockwise offer basic loans from as little as £50 up to £15,000 depending on individual circumstances. This means we look at your income and outgoings to see how much disposable income you have (what is left over after you have paid for your essential living expenses). This tells us how much you could afford to pay back every week, fortnight, or month. If you have requested more than you can afford to pay back we may offer you a lower amount.
There are three main ways to make loan repayments. These are by standing order from your current account (either a Clockwise current account or any other), having benefits or wages paid into your Instat Access account or via payroll membership where the loan repayment is deducted directly from your wages/salary.
As an ethical lender we aim to keep the costs of our loans at an affordable rate of interest. If we were to provide doorstep lending this would dramatically increase our costs and therefore increase the rate of interest we are able to offer.
Please make contact with us for help and support in the first instance or contact a money advice organisation for information.
We consider all loan applications carefully. If you can provide evidence that you are trying to repay and resolve your previous debts, we will consider giving you a loan. In addition, we may be able to help you consolidate some or all of your existing debt into one affordable repayment. We assess each applicant individually, analysing income and expenditure so our loan decisions are based on your ability to repay the amount you borrow. If we feel you would be worse off by borrowing, we will refer you to an agency that can help.
To give you a loan, we need to get to know you as an individual and to fully understand your financial position. The information we may ask for gives us an overall picture of the amount you can afford to repay on a loan amount you have asked for and will inform part of our decision on whether to grant the loan. All the information you provide is confidential and only used to assess your loan application.
We do not lend money to people who would not be able to afford to pay the loan as it would not be in their best interest and may make matters worse.
If you have been turned down for a loan, you might want to consider saving a little or perhaps opening a budget account to help get yourself back on track. It will help us build a relationship with you, so next time perhaps we can say yes.
A credit rating is a summary of your borrowing history. Every time you apply for credit such as an overdraft, loan, credit or store card, the lending organisation will do a search on your name and address to see whether you pay back your loans. If they grant you credit and you fail to make a payment or are late in making a payment they will record this with a credit reference agency. If you pay on time this is also noted. Paying on time improves your rating; paying late or failing to pay decreases your rating. You can check your credit history by visiting Experian, Equifax or TransUnion
Your credit rating will be low if you have never borrowed money or you have never paid for household bills in monthly instalments (a form of credit). It seems strange, but it tells a business that is interested in your credit-worthiness that you cannot prove you are able and willing to pay back a loan/credit card/mortgage/bill etc. The first thing you should do if you want to build a good credit history is to register where you live on the electoral roll. To find out more about building a credit history we couldn’t do better than Martin Lewis’s advice on his Money Savings Expert website. There is also a useful tool to help you understand your own credit history which you may find helpful before applying for your loan.
Credit unions are ethical not-for profit businesses. We are here for everyone, however we put our members interests first and would never knowingly put someone at financial hardship by lending money.
Loan decisions are made against a criteria that considers affordability, credit history, borrowing history with Clockwise Credit Union.
There are a number reasons why Clockwise Credit Union will reject a loan application:
We need to see that you have enough income to pay priority bills as well as loan repayments
Fraud and identity theft is all too common, and we won’t lend unless we are sure that the loan application has come from you and that you are who you say you are. So, we may refuse a loan application if we have not received sufficient ID or a proof of your current address. You can find the types of ID and proof of address we accept here
If we can see that you are spending more than you have coming in, with the added cost of a loan repayments, then we will decline the loan application. We also will send you advice on how to look at your budget, to make sure that you can afford your priority bills, such as rent or utilities.
If you are already borrowing somewhere else, then borrowing more may cause more problems. As an ethical lender, we may turn down your application if you are already in debt and we think that borrowing more wouldn’t be affordable for you.
What can I do next?
If you are not approved there are some steps you can take:
We also suggest that you review your expenditure and reduce your outgoings where possible. For example ask your gas and electricity provider if you can switch to a cheaper tariff, or change your energy supplier. Free energy efficiency advice from www.energysavingtrust.org.uk could help reduce your energy bills.
Are you claiming all the benefits you are entitled to? Check our Benefits Calculator.
These steps will help you improve your credit score, so next time you need to borrow money you are more likely to be approved.
Yes, you have 14 days from the date you signed the loan agreement to request a cancellation of the agreement. You must return the full amount borrowed under the agreement and we will then refund anything you have paid including any interest charged. Read more here
If you are repaying your loan via a continuous card payment authority you may cancel this arrangement at any time. To cancel the arrangement you can contact us or your card issuer. You will need to set up a new payment method.
ADDRESS: 1 St Nicholas Place, Leicester, LE1 5LB.
TEL: 0330 17 55 792
EMAIL: hello@clockwise.coop
Twinned with Castlebar Credit Union in Ireland.
