What Credit is an online vehicle financing broker operating in the UK. The company offers financing options to secure a variety of vehicles including cars, motorbikes, vans, commercial vehicles, horseboxes, caravans, and motorhomes, and also facilitates customers looking for personal loans or asset financing (through direct and indirect channels). Customers that secure a car loan through What Credit enjoy the freedom to buy a car through its own platform or opt for the services of a private seller. A typical loan application may take a few hours, from application to car purchase, although it may take longer if the borrower takes time finding a car.
Also Check: CarFinance 247 Loans Review
What Credit facilitates customers in securing financing for vehicles, and also for personal loans and asset finance.
1) Car Finance
As a broker, What Credit does not lend directly to its customers. Instead, the broker shares information as stated by the customer (in the loan application form) with lenders in its pool to secure a good loan for them, in return for commission that is charged to the lenders. However, the broker does conduct a soft search on each application to verify the credit score of an applicant before forwarding the application to the most appropriate lender. This soft search does not have any impact on the credit rating of the applicant.
What Credit works on the Hire Purchase model of vehicle financing, which means that the vehicle will remain under the ownership of the lender until the entire loan amount has been repaid by the borrower. At the culmination of the loan agreement, after the borrower has completed all the loan repayments, ownership of the car is transferred from the lender to the borrower.
Since ownership of the car remains with the lender until the end of the loan term, the loans being offered through What Credit are secured loans: the outstanding loan amount is secured against the value of the car.
In case it has been assessed that a borrower is no longer able to service a loan, the lender has the option to sell the vehicle in the market and recover the outstanding loan amount, either partially or fully depending upon the market value of the vehicle. The lender is protected against the possibility of any losses caused by default, which makes this a secured loan. And as the risk is substantially covered, the APR being charged by the lender is lower than other unsecured loan options available in the market.
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2) Personal Loans and Asset Finance
What Credit also facilitates its customers if they wish to secure personal loans. Personal loans are different compared to car finance loans as they are unsecured (the lender does not take anything from the borrower against the loan as security). According to the What Credit website, the broker will share the applicants information with another broker that specializes in personal loans, called Aspire Money. They are able to offer loans between the range of £500-£25,000 for up to 5 years with a representative APR of 49.9%.
As far as asset finance is concerned, What Credit provides it as a customized service, mostly targeted towards business clients, and requires its customers to contact a What Credit representative to sort out their asset financing needs.
The following list illustrates the eligibility criteria that need to be met in order to apply for a loan through What Credit. Applicants must:
Securing a loan through What Credit has the following pros & cons:
What Credit is able to process a loan application within hours of the borrower filing the initial application. According to the broker’s website, the least amount of time it has taken for a borrower to buy a car with funds borrowed through What Credit after filing the initial loan application is 2 hours and 20 minutes. Naturally, it can take much longer if the borrower causes a delay in selecting a vehicle.
Both the car dealers as well as car financers are available through What Credit, making it easier to select a car and acquire a loan for it, all through the same platform. This also allows What Credit to process its loan applications including disbursement within a few hours.
The borrower will not own the vehicle until the entire loan amount is repaid, including all the charges accrued on it such as interest. This means the borrower cannot sell the vehicle and switch to another one as the vehicle is owned by the lender until the end of the loan term. However, some lenders may offer borrowers the option to repay the outstanding loan balance early, either in parts or as one lump-sum payment, and assume ownership of the vehicle sooner.
According to the What Credit website, the broker does not charge any amount in administrative fee.
The representative APR charged on the loans sought through What Credit vary according to the credit rating of the borrower. This variation is illustrated in the table below.
| Credit Rating | Loan Amount | Loan Term | Representative APR | Total Repayable | Charge of Credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | £7,250 | 48 months | 4.9% | £7,986.24 | £736.24 |
| Good | £5,000 | 48 months | 12.9% | £6,200.16 | £1,200.16 |
| Fair | £5,000 | 48 months | 16.8% | £6,699.36 | £1,699.36 |
| Average | £5,000 | 48 months | 21.8% | £7,174.08 | £2,174.08 |
| Poor | £7,250 | 48 months | 29.9% | £11,310.24 | £4,060.24 |
| Guarantor | £4,000 | 36 months | 49.9% | £7,025.76 | £3,025.76 |
The following information is required by What Credit in order for a loan application to be processed:
– Employment type
– Employer name
– Job title
– Duration of employment
– Net monthly income generated from the employment
To apply for a loan with What Credit, applicants need to go through the following steps. Both the application form and the process to apply for a loan are the same for all vehicle types that can be financed with a loan obtained through What Credit.
Applicants need to click on the Apply Now button to access the following application form. After selecting the desired loan amount and the purpose for which the loan is being sought, applicants need to click on the Get Started Now button to move forward.
The next window (shown above) requires information about the applicant’s driver’s license. Select the appropriate option and move forward by clicking Next Step button.
Next, applicants need to specify their marital status, as shown below.
Applicants will then have to specify whether they hold a valid UK passport. Select the appropriate option and move ahead to the next step. Then the application form asks about the applicant’s date of birth.
The next step requires information pertaining to the applicant’s employment.
After employment details, the application process requires a few other details, such as the applicant’s home address.
What Credit informs applicants about the status of their application within hours, after which it is up to the applicant to find the most suitable car under their budget. Applicants may use the vehicle finder experts available at What Credit to find a car, or approach any private dealership of their choosing.
The final step requires the borrower to provide proof of the purchase they have made at a dealership, and a loan is prepared against the amount stated on the receipt. The borrower then has to sign some final documents, and then What Credit, through its chosen lender, releases the loan payment to the dealership that holds the borrower’s car. The borrower now has possession of the car and needs to pay off the loan acquired from What Credit as required in the monthly payments.
Yes, in fact two credit searches are made, one by What Credit and another by the lender that is evaluating a borrower’s loan application. In some cases, more than two credit searches may also be made.
Yes, What Credit judges each application individually and charges a higher rate to those borrowers that have a bad credit score. However, this rate is not substantially higher compared to the rates being offered to borrowers with excellent credit rating. For example, borrowers with a good credit rating are quoted a representative APR of 12.9%, while borrowers with a poor credit rating are quoted a representative APR of 29.9%. The reason why What Credit is able to offer an attractive rate to borrowers with a bad credit rating is because these are secured loans, and hence the risk is partially covered by the value of the vehicle.
Yes, the services being offered by What Credit are also available to the residents of Northern Ireland.
It depends, as some lenders require an initial deposit while others do not.
After sharing the approval, What Credit also intimates the borrower about any documentation that needs to be submitted. The documents required vary according to the particulars of each loan application, but it may be as simple as submitting a copy of the borrower’s driver’s license.
Does What Credit not seem suitable to your needs? Are you looking for a car finance broker that offers something different? The following car finance brokers are also operating in the UK and offering competitive services. These have also been reviewed and rated by Credit Raters.
| Broker/Lender | Description |
|---|---|
| CarFinance 247 (Broker) | CarFinance 247 is a credit broker operating in the UK providing car financing options to its customers. Representative APR is 27.4%. Borrowers can get loan amounts between £2,000-£40,000 for a period of 1-7 years. |
| Get Me Car Finance (Broker/Lender) | Get Me Car Finance is both a broker and a lender operating in the UK providing car financing loans. Representative APR is 27.4% and customers can borrow between £3,000-£25,000 over a period of 12-48 months |
What Credit is offering high-street vouchers worth £100 to all those customers who refer the service to their family members or friends.
*UKCreditRatings offer a 14-day trial to their credit report service. If you choose not to cancel within the trial period, you will incur the monthly subscription fee of £19.95 until you cancel the account. Credit Raters is a free financial comparison website owned by Season Marketing Ltd which is a company registered in England and Wales (Company number 08901402). Season Marketing Ltd's registered office; 71 - 75 Shelton Street, London, England, WC2H 9JQ. Season Marketing Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and entered on is the Consumer Credit Register under reference number: 727385. Licensed by the Information Commissioners Office, (registration number ZA064129).
