Using the National Fire Savers Credit Union is the affordable and accessible way to borrow money. At the National Fire Savers we specialise in small to medium size loans (typically less than £20,000) over short periods (no more than five years) as this is where people often find it hard to get credit at affordable rates.
We currently have a 98% approval rate*.
Many large financial institutions advertise jaw-dropping, low interest rates but often these aren’t available on small loans, and those companies who do offer smaller value loans (such as payday loans) can charge very high interest rates.
We have a range of loan products designed to meet your needs; there are no arrangement fees for any of our loans and no penalties for early repayment. We do not add the interest at the start of the loan term which means repaying early actually saves you money!
Our loan policy changes from time-to-time to reflect the needs of our members and the credit union as a whole. If you are planning on borrowing from us, please contact us to discuss your requirements.
We use a share multiplier on our larger products (Affiliate and Non-Affiliate Loans) to determine how much you can apply for. The smaller loan products (Everyday and Member loans) are not subject to the share multiplier for up to £7,500. This means you can have a total outstanding loan balance spread over these products of up to £7,500 with minimal shares. For loans over this amount we use the following share multiplier:
3 x shares* + £2,000 = Maximum total loan balance (up to £20,000). So, for example, if you have £4,000 in savings you will be eligible to apply for a loan of up to £14,000.
Please note that the share multiplier does not overrule product capacity limits so you should check individual loan products for eligibility.
*Shares must be held in a Membership account.
*The credit committee reserve the right to request a credit check depending on a member's circumstances.
PLEASE NOTE: Further evidence may be required to support your loan application. This would consist of bank transactions for the last 30 days showing all your income and expenses and your most recent payslip. If this evidence is requested, your loan application will not be assessed until this information has been received.
Data Sharing
In order to process your Loan Application we reserve the right to perform a consumer credit check and an identity check on you with a Credit Reference Agency(“CRA”).
To do this, we will supply your personal information to the CRA and they will give us information about you. This will include information from your credit application and about your financial situation and financial history. The CRA will supply to us both public (including the electoral register) and shared credit, financial situation and financial history information and fraud prevention information.
We will use this information to:
- Assess your creditworthiness and whether you can afford to take the product;
- Verify the accuracy of the data you have provided to us;
- Prevent criminal activity, fraud and money laundering;
- Manage your account(s);
This additional information will enable us to tackle financial exclusion far more effectively as the best answer if often not to lend more but to assist members with savings and budgeting skills.
All of these aims - the protection of member's money, responsible lending and avoidance of bad debt - are entirely consistent with the traditional values of the credit union movement.