Instalments across 3 months were studied in the previous comparison and today we’ll be doubling up to the popular 6 month loans niche. There is a heavy overlap across each, but there are less overall options when stepping up. It is however a much more competitive space to be operating in due to the instalment heavyweight brands Lending Stream and Sunny who each advertise on TV. Some further brands competing well in 2019 are The One Stop Money Shop and Uncle Buck. Some big news recently coming to light was the closure of Enova’s Pounds to Pocket. This has been merged with On Stride Financial that has at least taken on Pocket’s 6m starting point.

Lending Stream was the first major brand to carve out the 6 month loans sector. They had originally offered a payday term, but were savvy to change direction when most lenders piled on short term. In time they’d of course be joined by an army of monthly firms who adapted when industry capping came into force. Stream’s main rival is Sunny. These have been the dominant forces in recent years, investing lots of money on brand promotion both online and through TV ads. The most popular sites don’t however tend to offer up the most competitive rates. Smart-Pig was the only high profile company to rank within the top 5 subprime deals below.

About: Niche

In the past instalment comparison the benefits of spreading a monthly balance across 3 months was highlighted in order to improve affordability. When extending to half a year those repayments become even more affordable assuming that you are sticking to modest borrowing sums. When opting for a 6 month loan you’ll receive better overall value since the interest is cutting against a balance that is reducing on a monthly basis. It is true that longer term borrowing helps the lenders to pocket more cash, but most providers do enable early settlements to be made. This can usually be done with ease from making the request via your account login. Otherwise, by phone.

We’d consider good sector value to float around £150 per £300 (reminder: £100 was competitive at 3m). Many established brands tend to charge closer to £300 that is almost double the price. High cost products can especially cause problems for amounts accessed between £500 and £1000. Large debts like this could easily spiral and so should be extended over a year. Further comparisons will look at 12 and 24 month loans. There are also guarantor and logbook options for very poor credit. Playing the long game and building up a limit on a subprime credit card is another viable option. The key advantage here is zero interest on purchases when balances are cleared monthly.

Notes…

Alexa.com: Comparison listings are sorted by traffic rankings. Groupings: 1) UK ranks, 2) Global ranks (no UK) and 3) Unranked (sorted alphabetically).

Amounts: Borrowing amounts displayed are complete ranges (across every term available).

Closures: H&T Finance (web), In-Sync Credit Services, Tiger Loans Company, Track Loans, Wonga & Zippa Loans. More recent: Capfin, NextCredit, Oakam, Pounds to Pocket, Quidie, Trusted Quid & WageDayAdvance.

Examples: £300 costs have been sampled. The exceptions were Quick Loan Shop where £600 was used since QLS instalments require £400+ and with Payday Loans Net £1200 was used since this is the smallest amount available for this term.

Best Prime Deal

5) Smart-Pig: £150

Feefo.com (12 Month Data)

3) Drafty: 92% (7750+)

Prime: On Stride Financial

On Stride was previously packaged as a personal loan, but the terms have been extended in light of the owner (Enova) closing down Pounds to Pocket and merging it into this company. What stands out is the competitive pricing although this is variable across 6 such tiers that is unusual. For £300 the costs depending on your credit score would be either £45.24, £68.93, £93.31, £144.02, £219.04 or £280.95 (most customers pay £280.95 since this is the representative APR tier). 3 of these prices beat Drafty’s £97.20 and 4 beat Tappily’s £183.60. Stride delivers same day funding 7/7. You should only expect delays for sizeable requests (they lend up to £5000 on 3 year max terms).

Subprime: Fair Finance

Fair Finance offers the cheapest bad credit 6 month loans at £116 per £300 across 6 months. Existing customers then receive a discounted £92. This value is excellent considering that they consider CCJs, defaults and people on benefits. Outside of pricing, Fair Finance has the highest overall Feefo rating. They previously required branch visits across London, but you can now complete the process online and will just need to upload documents. There is an admin fee included with interest, but this is taken from the money paid. Any of the top 5 ranked subprime lenders would be advisable over the bigger firms that charge close to £300. With the top 5 you’d be paying between £116 and £154.94.

Last Update: May 24th, 2019