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Shawbrook Bank personal loans: At a glance
Shawbrook Bank personal loans may have a middle-of-the-road overall score, but it’s one of the lower-scoring lenders we’ve reviewed.
It’s let down in several areas, particularly because it can take several days longer to get the money paid into your account once your application is approved compared to other lenders.
You can apply to borrow up to £50,000 from Shawbrook, which is one of the highest amounts offered by the lenders we looked at. But, if you’re considering a loan, it’s sensible to only borrow what you need and pay it back as quickly as possible based on what you can afford to repay each month.
» MORE: Best personal loans and rates
NerdWallet Review Rating
See how we rate our lenders below.
Important information: Neither the review nor the star ratings considered the lender’s lending rates or representative APR, and therefore does not reflect how much they charge to borrow with them. The rates on this page have been provided as additional information. Always check and compare a lender’s rates against others on the market when considering a loan. The rate you are offered will be dependent on your personal circumstances, loan amount and term and may differ from the representative APR.
Partner SpotlightNerdWallet has partnered with Monevo
Other loans may be available in the UK loans market that are not included in this service.
Shawbrook Bank Personal Loan
1 to 7 years
£1,000 to £50,000
16.9%
Yes
Representative APR 16.9%. Based on a loan of £10,000 over 60 months at an interest of 16.9% p.a. (fixed). Monthly repayments of £241.68. Total amount payable £14,500.74. Maximum APR: 34.9%.
- Must be aged 21 to 75
- Must have been a permanent resident of the UK for at least 3 years
- Must have an annual income of at least £15,000
- Must have a personal UK bank account
NerdWallet has partnered with Monevo who will check your eligibility.
Shawbrook Bank loans pros & cons
Pros
- You can change your monthly loan payment date.
- You can get an immediate decision on your application.
- You can apply for a joint loan. Restrictions may apply.
- You can manage your loan via the Shawbrook Bank online portal.
Cons
- You can face interest charges if you want to settle your loan early.
- It can take up to three working days to receive funds in your account.
- You can only get in touch with Shawbrook Bank’s customer support via phone or email.
The pros and cons featured here are chosen by us based on a combination of our expert opinions from our research of the personal loans market and an exclusive survey of UK consumers conducted on behalf of NerdWallet UK in February 2023 to identify the features of personal loans that people feel are most important. They are unlikely to be the only product features and restrictions that you should consider. Pros and Cons are subjective and you should align them to your own personal circumstances. Information was correct at the time of publication but may have changed since.
Shawbrook Bank loans overview
Shawbrook Bank offers unsecured personal loans, alongside a range of other financial products, such as savings accounts and business finance.
Shawbrook Bank loans range from £1,000 to £50,000, which you can repay over one to seven years. These loans can be used to cover a range of costs, such as a new car, a wedding, home improvements, or debt consolidation, for example.
While the application and approval process can be relatively fast as everything is done online, you could have to wait a few days before the loan is in your account and ready to spend.
| Amount borrowable | £1,000 to £50,000 |
| Term length | One to seven years |
| Time to get a decision | Instant |
| Time to receive funds once approved | Within three working days |
| Need to have an account with the provider | No |
| Customer support | Phone, email, social media |
How do we rate Shawbrook Bank’s personal loans?
We’ve assessed a selection of UK loan providers and rated each against a set of criteria that take into consideration what loan customers tell us are the most important product features.
Here’s what we review and how Shawbrook Bank performs:
| Criteria | Star rating |
|---|---|
| Flexibility | 3.5 stars |
| Application process | 4.5 stars |
| Available customer support | 3.5 stars |
| Overall (The overall score is weighted in favour of the features borrowers told us they consider most important) | 3.5 stars |
NerdWallet’s star rating assessment criteria does not include the lender’s product lending rates or fees. Always check and compare a lender’s rates against others on the market when considering a loan.
Category definitions
Flexibility
A flexible loan gives customers a choice of funds, terms and payment options. That means offering a wide range of loan amounts and repayment term options, allowing the borrower to change their payment date and make overpayments, for example.
Application process
The best application processes are quick and easy, with clear eligibility criteria, soft checks and multiple ways to apply to suit different customers’ needs.
Available customer support
Good customer support can include clear information on the lender’s website and a customer service team that’s available most of the time and can be reached in multiple ways.
Where Shawbrook Bank personal loans stand out
You could get an instant decision on your application.
You can apply for a Shawbrook Bank loan online and, assuming there are no issues, get a decision within minutes. This means you shouldn’t be left waiting to see if your application is approved or not.
It offers joint loans
Shawbrook Bank allows you to apply for a loan jointly with another individual. This could be useful if you want to apply for a loan with your partner, to pay for a car, a wedding, or a holiday, for example. Remember, if you take out a joint loan with someone, your credit files will be linked and you’ll both be jointly responsible for paying back the loan. Any missed payments will affect both of your credit scores
You could borrow up to £50,000
Loans of between £1,000 and £50,000 are available from Shawbrook Bank. This is one of the highest maximum loan amounts offered by the lenders we have reviewed, and it could be a useful option if you need a larger sum of money.
Where Shawbrook Bank personal loans fall short
It can take up to three working days to get your loan
Once Shawbrook Bank has your signed loan agreement, it may take up to three working days before you receive the money in your account. This is longer than some lenders, which can transfer the money on the same or the next working day.
Limited customer support
Unlike some lenders, you can only get in touch with Shawbrook Bank’s customer support via phone or email, and it isn’t accessible 24/7. There isn’t a live chat option or a mobile app that you can use to manage your loan or ask for help.
There’s no loan calculator on Shawbrook’s site
Unlike many lenders, Shawbrook doesn’t offer a loan calculator on its website. These calculators allow you to see how much your repayments might be, based on how much you borrow, and for how long you borrow it. Shawbrook says because calculators use the representative APR, or annual percentage rate, for their calculations, their usefulness is limited as you could be offered a different rate than this.
Features
Shawbrook Bank offers personal loans ranging from £1,000 to £50,000, which is one of the largest loan amounts of the lenders we reviewed.
These loans are unsecured so you don’t need to offer any security, such as your car or house, to the lender.
The interest rate on a Shawbrook loan is fixed, which means your monthly repayments will stay the same for the length of the term.
You can repay a loan from Shawbrook Bank over a term ranging between one and seven years. This is standard for most unsecured personal loans.
Joint loans
Shawbrook Bank offers joint loans, which means you could apply to borrow money with your partner, a family member or a friend. If, for example, one of you has a less-than-sparkling credit score, applying together could help you get approved because Shawbrook will consider the credit history and finances of both applicants.
But, if you take out a joint loan with someone, your credit files will be linked. You would both be jointly responsible for paying back the loan, and any missed payments will affect both of your credit scores.
Loans for bad credit
Shawbrook Bank is unlikely to offer you a loan if you have a poor or bad credit history. As part of its eligibility requirements, the lender says you need to have a good credit score to get a loan.
If you have bad credit and want to apply for a loan, there are specialist lenders that may be able to help.
Don’t apply for loans you are unlikely to get because unsuccessful applications will have a negative effect on your credit score.
Flexibility
With a 3.5 star rating Shawbrook Bank offers an average level of repayment flexibility.
Your loan agreement will set out your repayment schedule, including when your first payment is due. You’ll repay the loan in fixed monthly instalments until the debt is paid off.
After your first payment, you can change the date that the payments come out of your account during the loan term by contacting Shawbrook Bank or via your online portal. This allows you to pick a more convenient date if your circumstances change and the original date doesn’t work for you.
But check if changing your payment date will affect the amount of interest you pay in total.
Extra repayments
Shawbrook Bank currently allows you to make overpayments on your loan, without paying any penalty fees. Most lenders will allow borrowers to make extra repayments, which isn’t surprising as 44% of respondents to our survey considered this an important feature of a loan.
Overpayments can help you to clear your debt faster and reduce the amount of interest you pay in total. There are usually limits to how much you can overpay, so check these in advance.
If you’re in a position to do so, you can pay off a loan from Shawbrook Bank before the end of the term. You’ll need to contact Shawbrook to get a settlement figure, which you will need to pay within 30 days if you want to clear your debt. Shawbrook will charge an interest fee on the outstanding balance if you want to settle early.
Lenders can charge up to 58 days’ worth of interest on your outstanding balance in your settlement figure, or up to 28 days if there is less than 12 months left on your loan term. Even with these charges, paying off your loan early is likely to save you money in the long run.
» MORE: Paying off a loan early
Additional borrowing
Shawbrook Bank may allow you to apply for further borrowing on top of your existing loan. But you’ll need to make a new loan application and it will depend on your financial circumstances at that time. Shawbrook will only consider your application if it’s confident that you can afford the extra repayments.
Application process
Shawbrook Bank scores well in this category with 4.5 stars, but many lenders we reviewed perform better and offer a faster application process.
While many lenders offer loan calculators to give people an idea of how much their repayments would be if they borrowed a certain amount over a certain period, Shawbrook Bank doesn’t offer this tool. In our survey, 45% of respondents considered a loan calculator an important feature for a lender to offer, so Shawbrook could be missing a trick by not having one.
Shawbrook says it doesn’t offer a loan calculator because most use a representative APR (which 51% of successful applicants receive) in their calculations, rather than the interest rate you would get. This means your payments could be higher or, in some cases, lower than those shown by the calculator, limiting the usefulness of the tool.
Even though there isn’t a calculator, you can still check your eligibility for a loan from Shawbrook Bank to see how likely you are to be approved. Shawbrook will ask for certain details about you and your finances, and then run a soft credit check to see if it can offer you a loan. This check won’t affect your credit score.
If you decide to formally apply for a loan, Shawbrook will run a hard credit check as part of the application process, which will leave a mark on your credit history.
If Shawbrook accepts your application, it will send the loan agreement electronically for you to sign and return.
As well as applying for a loan directly, you could consider using a loan eligibility service that runs a soft search across multiple lenders to show how likely you are to be accepted for a loan by different loans, without affecting your credit score.
What information do I need?
When you apply for a loan from Shawbrook Bank, you will need to provide some key information, such as your:
- name and address history from the last three years
- income
- employment status
- residential status
- bank account details
In some cases, Shawbrook Bank might need extra information to help it make a decision on your application. This is when Shawbrook could use open banking to get a clearer picture of your finances and determine whether you can afford a loan.
It allows Shawbrook to view your banking information (with your permission) quicker and more easily, potentially speeding up the application process. Alternatively, you can manually provide the information it needs.
How long does it take to apply?
When you apply for a loan from Shawbrook Bank, you can get a decision straight away. However, in some cases, Shawbrook may require further information which can delay a decision being made.
If you’re approved for a loan, Shawbrook will send your loan agreement online. Once you have signed and returned this document, Shawbrook will transfer the funds into your account within three working days.
A long wait when compared to some other lenders who are able to send the money on the same day.
Availability of customer support
Shawbrook Bank has a relatively limited choice of contact options, which means it doesn’t score as well in this category compared to some other lenders.
Customers can contact Shawbrook Bank by phone, which was listed as the most important form of customer support by respondents to our survey. Shawbrook Bank also has a contact email address if you prefer to sort any issues out in writing.
You can also contact Shawbrook Bank via its X (formerly Twitter) account, but the team won’t be able to talk about the specifics of your loan agreement. It’s likely you’ll be pointed to its direct messages or a customer service phone number for further assistance.
Shawbrook Bank doesn’t offer a live chat function, unlike some other lenders. It doesn’t have a mobile app either, although you can manage your loan on Shawbrook’s online portal.
Customer ratings
Shawbrook Bank has an ‘Excellent’ rating on Trustpilot, based on over 12,500 reviews. Bear in mind that these reviews cover all of Shawbrook’s products, not just its personal loans.
This information is correct as of 4 September 2024.
Am I eligible for a Shawbrook Bank loan?
To qualify for a personal loan from Shawbrook Bank, you will need to meet the basic criteria before it will consider your application. You will need to:
- be aged between 21 and 75 years old
- have been a UK resident for at least three years
- earn at least £15,000 a year
- have a personal UK bank account
- have a good credit history with no outstanding county court judgments (CCJ)
As part of the application process, you can also opt-in to open banking and allow Shawbrook to view more information about your finances and work out whether you can afford to repay a loan. Sometimes this makes the application process quicker and easier.
Frequently asked questions
Shawbrook Bank is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as well as the Prudential Regulation Authority.
It’s not necessarily easier to get a loan with Shawbrook Bank than any other lenders. But, if you meet Shawbrook’s requirements and pass its credit and affordability checks, you could have funds in your account within three working days.
Review methodology
At NerdWallet UK, we base our reviews and our ‘Best’ pages on the results of surveys we undertook about what was important to people who use these products. This allows us to look at products impartially of any commercial arrangements we have and fairly rate the products on the same set of criteria.
Best means our ‘Best’ and is based only on what products we have aligned to our surveys, which form the basis of our reviews and ratings. This means that there will be other products on the market that we have not included in our ‘Best’ pages. Best does not mean it’s best for you, nor does it mean the ‘cheapest’.
Our reviews may display lenders’ rates. This additional information has not been included in our evaluations but is still very important when choosing a product. Rates offered can depend on circumstances, amount and term. Always check details before proceeding with any financial product.
Product details reflect the information that was available at that time but may have changed since. We strive to give you a review on as many products as possible, but there will be products not included on the market. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability for your financial circumstances.
While we try to provide you with accurate information, the providers can change the terms of their products at any time, therefore it is advisable to check the terms before you proceed.
You can view our full review methodology here.