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.