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What is the minimum salary required to take out a personal loan?

The simple answer is that there is no minimum salary requirement that will guarantee you will be approved for a loan. Income is one of the important factors when lenders assess your loan eligibility, but it isn’t necessarily a deciding one.

Some lenders may well have salary requirements. For example, the Post Office and the AA both state that you must have a minimum annual income of £12,000 to apply for a personal loan. But there is no universal minimum. This is because lenders are interested in a number of other factors such as:

  • Your credit history

  • Your employment status

  • Your current debt

  • Your expenses

  • Your assets

  • Any other financial commitments you might have

If you discover that you do not meet the lender’s minimum requirements, then there are a number of ways that you can improve your chances of being approved for a loan:

  • Use a guarantor – guarantor loans are less risk to lenders as they have a guarantee that the loan will be paid back, even if you are unable to.

  • Apply for a lower amount – borrowing less mean less risk to the lender and lower repayments for you.

  • Use your bank – your current bank is more likely to give you a loan than another lender, as long as you have a good banking history.

If you compare loans with Money Expert, we'll run soft eligibility check that won't show up on your credit score.

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