Personal Loan
Calculator UK 2026

Work it backwards with the standard annuity formula: P = M × [1 − (1 + r)^-n] ÷ r, where M is the monthly payment, r is the APR divided by 12, and n is the term in months. At 8.5% APR, £200 a month supports roughly £9,748 over 5 years, or about £16,131 over 10 years.

The longer term lets you borrow more on the same budget, but you pay for it: the 10-year version costs substantially more in total interest for the same monthly outlay. Two cautions.

First, this is affordability arithmetic, not an offer — what a lender will actually advance depends on your credit file, income and existing debts, and most run an affordability assessment covering your wider outgoings. Second, base the budget on what you can comfortably repay after doing a proper budget, and borrow what you need rather than the maximum the figure allows.

At a representative 8.5% APR, £10,000 costs about £316 a month over 3 years, £205 over 5 years, and £124 over 10 years. The monthly figure falls as the term lengthens, but total interest moves the other way: roughly £1,364 over 3 years, £2,310 over 5, and £4,878 over 10 — so the 10-year loan costs more than three times the interest of the 3-year one on the same £10,000.

Note also that the APR itself is banded by amount in the UK: £10,000 typically sits in a lender’s cheapest band, whereas £2,900 can attract a rate several points higher, so a smaller loan is not automatically a cheaper one. Pick the shortest term whose monthly payment you can comfortably sustain, and remember that under CCA s.94 you can overpay up to £8,000 in any 12-month period with no compensation charge if your circumstances improve.

Because UK lenders band the APR by loan size, and the bands are not monotonic — the cheapest money sits in the middle of the range. A typical published table runs 14.9% at £1,000–£2,999, 9.9% at £3,000–£4,999, 6.9% at £5,000–£7,499, 5.9% at £7,500–£25,000, then back up to 6.9% above £25,000.

The practical consequence catches people out: at £2,900 over 60 months you would pay about £68.84 a month at 14.9%, but borrowing £100 more to reach £3,000 puts you at 9.9%, which is about £63.59 a month — a lower payment on a larger loan, and roughly £415 less total interest. The same effect appears at the £5,000 and £7,500 thresholds.

Never apply for an amount just under a band boundary without pricing the boundary too. The caveat is obvious but worth stating: only borrow more than you need when the extra money is genuinely useful to you, and check both amounts with a soft-search eligibility checker before applying.

Advertised UK loan rates are 'representative APR', which under the FCA Glossary definition of 'representative APR' (applied by CONC 3.5.6G) must be the rate expected for at least 51% of the agreements the advert produces. That leaves up to 49% of borrowers paying more, and the advertised figure tells you nothing about how much more.

Some lenders — M&S Bank is one — publish a maximum APR per band alongside the illustrative rate, and the gap is wide: on their table the £1,000–£2,999 band runs 14.9% illustrative against 21.9% maximum, and £7,500–£25,000 runs 5.9% against 16.9%. Treat the advertised rate as a best case, look for the lender's maximum, and get a personalised quote from a soft search before applying.

Your actual rate depends on your credit file, income, existing debts, and the amount and term you ask for.

UK personal loans use the standard amortisation formula M = P × [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n − 1], where P is the loan amount, r is the monthly interest rate (APR ÷ 12 ÷ 100), and n is the term in months. A £10,000 loan at 8.5% APR over 5 years (60 months) costs £205 per month, total interest £2,310.

Lenders must quote the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) under the Consumer Credit Act, which includes interest plus any compulsory fees, so the figure on the comparison site is directly comparable across lenders.

Under FCA rules (CONC 3.5), a lender's advertised 'representative APR' must be the rate expected for at least 51% of the agreements the advert produces. Up to 49% can be priced higher.

Your actual rate depends on your credit file, income, existing debts and the loan amount/term. Use a soft-search eligibility checker (Experian, ClearScore, MoneySavingExpert, or directly on the lender's site) to see your personalised rate before submitting a full application — soft searches don't affect your credit score.

Mainstream UK personal loan lenders commonly offer £1,000 to £35,000, and some go to £50,000 (Zopa and NatWest publish £50,000; Santander and Monzo £35,000; M&S Bank's published maximum is £30,000). The most competitive APRs (typically 5.5%–8% for prime borrowers; the Bank of England's quoted average for a £10,000 loan was 6.98% in September 2026) cluster in the £7,500–£15,000 band — borrow less or more and the rate often jumps.

Loans above £25,000 may require additional income verification.

The interest rate is the cost of borrowing the principal. The APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the all-in cost including any compulsory fees — arrangement fees, broker fees, or product fees — expressed as a single annualised percentage.

For most modern UK personal loans there are no upfront fees, so APR equals the interest rate. When fees are charged, APR is always higher than the headline interest rate and is the figure that lets you compare loans like-for-like.

Almost always, if you can't clear it on a 0% balance transfer card. A £5,000 personal loan over 3 years at 9% APR costs £159/month with £724 total interest.

The same £5,000 on a credit card at 24.9% representative APR, paying a typical minimum of 1% of the balance plus interest (at least £25), takes about 20 years and costs roughly £9,200 in interest. A flat 2% minimum would not even cover the 2.1% monthly interest, so the balance would never clear.

A 0% balance transfer (typically 0% for 18–30 months with a 2–4% transfer fee) is cheaper than a personal loan if you can clear the balance within the promo period — otherwise the personal loan wins on certainty.

Yes, all regulated UK personal loans allow early settlement. Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.94) and the Consumer Credit (Early Settlement) Regulations 2004, you get an interest rebate for the unused portion of the term, and partial or full repayments totalling up to £8,000 in any 12-month period carry no compensation charge; above that, on a fixed-rate loan the lender may claim a fair amount capped at 1% of the amount repaid (0.5% if a year or less remains) and never more than the interest you would otherwise have paid (s.95A).

The settlement figure can also include interest up to 28 days after your notice, plus one further month on loans whose term is over a year (Early Settlement Regulations 2004, regs 5–6). Ask the lender for an 'early settlement figure' — this includes any rebate and the legal maximum fee.

Yes — credit score is the single biggest factor. Borrowers with excellent credit (for example Experian 'Excellent', 1,121–1,250 on its current 0–1,250 scale) typically qualify for representative APR or better.

Fair credit sees 2–5 percentage points higher. Poor credit is often declined by mainstream lenders or offered 25%–40% APR via specialist lenders.

Other factors: income, employment status, existing debt-to-income ratio, time at current address, and electoral roll registration.

No — interest on personal loans used for personal purposes (car, holiday, wedding, debt consolidation) is NOT tax-deductible in the UK. The exception is interest on loans used wholly and exclusively for business purposes by a sole trader or partnership (deductible against trading profits), or interest on a loan used to invest in a close company or partnership where the borrower is a participator (qualifying loan interest relief, ITA 2007 ss.383–412).

For most consumers, the interest cost is post-tax and should be compared directly to the loan APR.

Identity (passport or driving licence), proof of address (recent utility bill, bank statement or council tax letter), 3 months of bank statements (most lenders pull this via Open Banking with your consent rather than paper statements), proof of income (latest 3 payslips for employees, or 2 years of SA302s for self-employed). Many lenders (Zopa, Monzo Loans, NatWest, Lloyds) approve and disburse within minutes if you bank with them — they already have the income data.

Digital lenders such as Zopa and Monzo typically give an instant decision and disburse same-day or next business day if approved. Traditional bank apps (Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays, HSBC) approve in minutes for existing customers and disburse within 1–2 business days.

Brokers and comparison-site routes (MoneySupermarket, Compare the Market, ClearScore) add 1–2 days for hand-off and re-underwriting. From soft-search to money-in-account, expect 24–72 hours total for most prime borrowers.