You can still borrow with a lower credit score, but the rate you're offered is usually the thing that changes. Here's what that costs, and what your options are.

Key takeaways

• A lower credit score rarely closes the door on a loan completely, but it narrows the range of lenders willing to lend and usually raises the rate you're offered.

• Median loan rates offered to ClearScore users fall steadily as scores rise, from around 39% in the 300–399 band to around 10% for users scoring 800 or above.

• There's no minimum credit score for a personal loan in the UK, because every lender sets its own criteria and there's no single universal score.

• Loans marketed at people with lower scores can be expensive: on a £1,000 balance held for a month, illustrative interest ranges from around £29 on a credit card to £240 on a payday loan.

• Only around 29% of ClearScore users who were using emergency borrowing in January 2025 had stopped a year later, which is worth knowing before you apply.

Can you get a loan with a low credit score?

Usually, yes. A lower score narrows your options rather than removing them. Lenders look at more than the number: your income, your employment, what you already owe, how long you've lived at your address, and how you've managed credit recently all feed into the decision. Two people with the same score can get very different answers. Loans like these are often advertised as loans for bad credit. We'd call it a lower score, because that's all it is.

What changes most is the price. Lenders price for risk, so a lower score typically means a higher APR, a smaller amount, or a shorter term. Approval is always subject to individual circumstances and lender criteria.

One thing worth saying plainly: ClearScore is a credit broker, not a lender. We show you your score, your report, and the offers available to you. Lenders make the decision. We earn a commission from providers if you take out a product with them, or if you visit their website.

What credit score do you need for a personal loan?

There's no minimum. No UK lender publishes a score threshold, and none of them are working from the same number you are.

Your score comes from a credit reference agency (CRA) – Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. Each uses its own scale, so a score that looks low on one can look mid-range on another. Lenders don't simply read your score off a screen either. Most run their own scoring model over your credit report and their own affordability checks, then decide.

So the useful question isn't "what score do I need". It's "what am I likely to be offered at the score I have, and is that worth taking".

Read next: What is a good or bad credit score – where the bands sit on each agency's scale, and what they actually mean.

How much more does a loan cost with a lower credit score?

The gap is large, and it widens the further up the scale you go.

ClearScore users scoring 800 or above are typically offered a median loan APR of around 10%. For users in the 300–399 band, the median is closer to 39%. On the same amount borrowed over the same term, that difference runs into hundreds of pounds.

Source: ClearScore data, more than 140,000 UK users, median guaranteed loan APRs. Association only – many factors affect the APR offered, and individual results will vary. Figures for the lowest score band (299 and below) are based on a small sample and are less reliable than the rest.

Pre-approval doesn't always guarantee acceptance and is subject to lenders' checks of your credit status.

The pattern is consistent: each step up the score bands tends to bring the median rate down. That's the mechanism behind almost everything else in this article. It's also why "can I get a loan" and "should I take this loan" are two different questions.

Rates aren't set by your score alone. Loan size and term matter too, and smaller loans often carry higher APRs than larger ones, according to Bank of England data on quoted household lending rates.

What are your options if your credit score is low?

More than the ones being advertised at you. Each has a different trade-off, and none of them is right for everyone. If you want the wider picture first, we've got a guide to the different types of loans and how they compare.

Across ClearScore's data, the loan-versus-card comparison shifts with your score. Below 400, median loan and credit card APRs sit close together. Above 400, loan rates fall faster than card rates, so the loan becomes the notably cheaper of the two as scores rise.

Source: ClearScore data, more than 140,000 UK users, median guaranteed APRs. Association only – many factors affect the APR offered, and individual results will vary. The lowest score band is based on a small sample.

Whatever you're weighing up, always make sure you can afford the repayments.

Compare your options: see loans for bad credit available to you, using a soft search that won't affect your score.

Which borrowing options are worth thinking twice about?

The ones at the expensive end, and it's worth seeing the numbers rather than the adjectives. If the names are unfamiliar, our jargon buster on higher cost short term loans runs through what each one actually is.

Here's an illustrative comparison of one month's interest on a £1,000 balance, across four options commonly marketed to people with lower scores.

Illustrative worked calculation, not ClearScore user data. One month's interest on a £1,000 balance: around £28.70 on a credit card, £32.80 on an overdraft, £82.20 on a doorstep loan, and £240 on a payday loan. The payday figure applies the FCA cap of 0.8% a day as a flat daily charge over 30 days, which is how the cap is calculated. Actual rates and the cheapest option available will vary by individual circumstances.

Payday lending looks cheapest when it's quoted as a daily rate, which is exactly why it's quoted that way. At 0.8% a day, which is the ceiling on interest and fees set by the FCA price cap for high-cost short-term credit, 30 days on £1,000 comes to £240. The cap works as a flat daily charge on the amount borrowed rather than a compounding rate, and a separate total cost cap means you can never be charged more in interest and fees than the amount you borrowed.

There's a second thing the daily rate doesn't tell you, which is how long people stay. Of ClearScore users who were using emergency borrowing in January 2025, only around 29% had stopped a year later. The other 71% were still using it.

Source: ClearScore data, more than 400,000 UK users, tracked January 2025 to January 2026. Emergency lending defined as short-term credit, home lending, and payday transactions detected through Open Banking; overdrafts excluded. Association only, and individual circumstances vary.

That isn't an argument that anyone who takes a short term loan is stuck with it. It's an argument for being honest with yourself about which problem you're solving. Borrowing bridges a gap. It doesn't close one.

If the underlying issue is debt rather than access to credit, free and impartial help exists and it's worth using before you apply for anything. MoneyHelper, StepChange, and Citizens Advice all offer free debt advice.

How can you improve your chances of being accepted?

None of these guarantees an outcome, and none of them works overnight. All of them could help.

Check your credit report for errors – a wrong address, an account that isn't yours, or a settled debt still showing as open can all drag on your score. You can dispute anything factually wrong with the CRA directly.

Register on the electoral roll – it helps lenders confirm your identity and address, and it's one of the quicker things on this list to sort out.

Apply for what you actually need – asking for less improves the affordability picture, and a smaller loan is easier to repay if your circumstances change.

Check your eligibility before you apply – eligibility checks use a soft search, which doesn't affect your score. Full applications leave a hard search on your report, and several in a short period can look like distress borrowing.

Bring down your credit utilisation where you can – that's how much of your available credit you're using. Experian suggests keeping it below 30% across your cards and accounts where you can.

Give complete information on the application – leaving optional fields such as income blank tends to work against you, because lenders can't verify what you haven't told them.

Read next: How to improve your credit score – ten steps, in the order worth doing them.

Is it worth waiting and building your score first?

It depends on how urgent the need is. If it's genuinely urgent, borrowing now at a higher rate may be the right call, and there's no judgement in that.

If it isn't urgent, the APR curve above is the argument for waiting. Moving up a single score band is associated with a meaningfully lower median rate, and scores can move more quickly than people expect once payments are landing on time and utilisation is coming down. A few months can change what's on the table.

Either way, applying repeatedly in the meantime is the thing to avoid. Check eligibility, don't submit full applications you don't need.

Your score isn't a verdict

If your score is lower than you'd like, that's information about a moment, not a summary of you. Credit files reflect the last few years of a life, and lives change. People rebuild after redundancy, illness, a relationship ending, or a period when nothing landed on time. The score follows.

What you're offered today isn't what you'll be offered forever. What tends to move it is ordinary and unglamorous: payments made on time, balances coming down, and a bit of patience.

Check your credit score for free with ClearScore

ClearScore gives you free access to your Equifax credit score and report, updated weekly. You can see what's on your report, spot anything that looks wrong, and track how your score changes over time.

You can also see loan offers matched to your profile without a full application, which uses a soft search and doesn't affect your score. Seeing the rate before you commit means you can compare what's actually available to you rather than guessing.

It's free, forever. 18+, registration required, T&Cs apply.

Check your credit score with ClearScore

ClearScore is a credit broker, not a lender. We earn a commission from providers if you take out a product with them, or if you visit their website. Find out more.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a loan with a 400 credit score?

Possibly, though your options will be narrower and the rate higher. There's no fixed cut-off, and lenders weigh income, employment, and existing commitments alongside your score. ClearScore users in the lower bands are typically offered median APRs well above 30%. Approval is subject to individual circumstances and lender criteria.

What's the easiest loan to get with a low credit score?

The easiest to get is rarely the cheapest. Loans marketed for fast approval usually carry the highest rates, and short-term products in particular can cost several times what a standard personal loan would. A credit union is worth checking first if there's one you're eligible to join. You can also compare loans for people with bad credit to see what's realistically open to you before applying.

Do loan applications lower your credit score?

A full application leaves a hard search on your credit report, which can lower your score slightly and, per Experian, stays visible to lenders for around 12 months. We've covered how long credit checks stay on your report in more detail. Several hard searches in a short period have more effect than one. Eligibility checks use a soft search and don't affect your score.

Can I get a loan with no credit check?

FCA rules require regulated lenders to carry out a creditworthiness and affordability assessment before lending, so a genuine no-credit-check loan isn't something a regulated lender can offer. Advertising that promises it is a signal to look closely at who's behind the offer.

How long does it take to improve a credit score before applying?

There's no fixed timeline, and it depends on what's affecting your score. Some changes, such as registering on the electoral roll or correcting an error, can show up within weeks. Others, such as building a run of on-time payments, take months. Missed payments and defaults stay on your report for six years, MoneyHelper confirms, even once the debt is cleared. Here's how long a default stays on your credit file.

Does being declined for a loan show on your credit report?

The application shows, as a hard search. The decision doesn't. Lenders can see that you applied but not that you were turned down, though a cluster of searches with no new accounts opened can imply it.

Is a guarantor loan a good idea?

It depends entirely on the relationship and the circumstances. A guarantor can open up options that wouldn't otherwise be available, but they become legally responsible for the repayments if you can't make them, and their own credit can be affected. Both people need to be comfortable with that before signing.

Important information

This article provides general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Individual circumstances vary, and you may wish to seek independent advice before making financial decisions. Information is accurate at the time of writing and may change.