Loans

The maximum Stroud Valleys Credit Union can lend is £7,500 above your savings. We consider loans from £100 upwards.
Typical, Loans are repaid within one or two years,however we can extend this to three years where required.
We accept loan repayments by Standing order. This can be monthly or weekly whatever suits you.

Any member over the age of 18 may apply for a loan. To become a member you need to live or work in the geographic area covered by Stroud Valleys Credit Union. See the details at here 

You can complete both forms at the same time at one our collection points, please see our locations and opening times. You will need to provide evidence of your address and identity at the same time so have these ready. Alternatively you can join on line and when you have become a member apply for a loan either in person or online.

Members can apply online at using our online form , or you can complete a paper application form. Bring a paper form to any of our collection points (see locations and opening times) or post it.

We take around a week to decide if we can lend you the money. This relies on you completing all the sections in the form and providing anything else we need, such as bank statements. If we have to come back to you for more information it may take longer.

Depending on how much you want to borrow and whether you already already have savings with us, the interest rate will be between 0.65% and 3% per month. If you want to compare this with lenders who quote an annual interest rate, this is equivalent to between 8% APR and 42.6% APR. In practice, it can be lower than these due to the way we recalculate your interest as the amount you owe us reduces. We will tell you the exact rate for your loan when you apply. If you want to get our best rates then become a saver ahead of applying for a loan. Saving regularly show us you can put money aside each month and so could afford your loan repayments.
We will contact you once we have decided. This will usually be within a week

In certain circumstances, you can apply for a further loan before you have repaid the first. We only want to lend you as much as you can afford to repay, so we will consider how much you have already repaid of the first loan before agreeing a second

You should always look for the best deal. But, to see if these advertised rates apply to you, read their small print. The advertised rate often applies to larger loans over a longer time period, perhaps £10,000 over 5 years. Would it apply to the sum you want to borrow? If you borrow more than you need for longer than you want, this can cost you more in the long term. To qualify you may also need to meet other conditions such as being a homeowner or having a current account with the lender with your salary paid in direct. They may ask for a Guarantor who will make the repayments if you don’t. They also look for a history of you taking out and repaying loans in full, on time. Not helpful if you don’t borrow regularly. Check all of these things first to see if you might actually get the advertised rate. Although we show an APR for comparison, you can pay less interest by doing a couple smart things. Firstly, become a regular saver before applying for a loan. That shows us you can manage your money and are likely to make repayments on time. Second, if you can, pay a little bit extra every week or month or pay off the loan early. Both save you money because we recalculate interest as the amount you owe us decreases. We specialise in lending smaller amounts over shorter periods than many other lenders. Also, being a Credit Union means the rates of interest we charge is limited by law. We don’t need to cover the cost of expensive advertising or high street premises. Most of us that serve you are volunteers who give their time for free.

We must check that you can afford repayments without putting pressure on your finances, using what you tell us about your income and outgoings and by looking at your bank statements for the last 3 months. We use a copy of your credit report to look at your history of managing credit and to double check details of any other loans you have mentioned in your application. The money we lend is our member’s savings, who like you live or work in the area covered by Stroud Valleys Credit Union, so we have a duty to only lend money to people we are confident can repay it.If you are an existing Stroud Valleys Credit Union member, we will take into account your membership history, but as a responsible lender we must still carry out our checks and may be unable to lend, even to long-standing members.

Having a poor credit history does not stop you applying for a loan. However, our Policy is that we can’t lend if there is evidence of a poor history of repaying creditors, you already have a large amount of debt (relative to your income) or have difficulty managing your day-to-day finances. We are lending out other member’s savings and we have a duty to look after them. We are very unlikely to lend if you have a history of taking out credit and failing to repay it, usually indicated by outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJ) and defaults on your credit record. There are certain circumstances where we are unable to consider lending at all, for example, if you have an active Debt Relief Order (DRO), Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or undischarged bankruptcy. If you are not sure what your credit report may show you can get a credit report for yourself.

No, there are no early repayment charges.

To qualify for a lower interest rate savers loan you will  be required to keep at least half the outstanding value  of the loan in your saving account. These savings are held as security against the loan and repayments will be taken from here if you are unable to pay. You can access other savings, but during the term of the loan you are encouraged to keep saving.

No, we don’t restrict what you use the money for, provided it is legal. However the purpose of the loan may influence the term in which the loan is granted.

We will consider loans for debt consolidation, however we will consider the interest rates on your current debts and whether there is a better solution for you. The maximum we can loan is £7,500.00 above your savings and the typical loan period is two years. Our loans may not be suitable where a larger amount, or a longer term is required to make it affordable.

Loans are covered by life cover at no extra cost up to age 80 (conditions apply). In the event of a claim, loans are paid off without further liability.

Yes. We will treat all personal (or other) information from you with the utmost respect and where appropriate, in accordance with GDPR and the Data Protection Act 1998.

Savings

We have what is known as a Common Bond, which is the thing that links or “bonds” our members together. The bond is that we all live or work in the area covered by Stroud District Council or the area around Tetbury. There is a map showing where we cover . As well as the Stroud District area we cover the parishes of Ashley, Avening, Beverston, Boxwell with Leighterton, Cherington, Didmarton, Kingscote, Long Newnton, Ozleworth, Rodmarton, Sapperton, Shipton Moyne, Tetbury, Tetbury Upton and Westonbirt with Lasborough.If you live or work elsewhere, you can look for your local credit union at ww.findyourcreditunion.co.uk

You can join online  or you can complete a membership application form at one of our collection points, where you must provide 2 forms of identity, one must show your current address. The minimum first deposit is £5.00 and the annual membership fee is £4.00. 

If you apply online we will check your identity using the information on the form. If we cannot verify your identity or address you may be asked to provide original evidence. A full list of Identity is provided on the application form. We cannot open an account unless you can prove your identity and that you live or work in our common bond area of that covered by Stroud District Council or around Tetbury.

You must make a minimum deposit of £5.00 and pay a membership fee of £4.00 to open your account. Each year after the first, we will deduct the membership fee of £1 from your account balance. You must keep a minimum of £5.00 in your savings account to keep your account open.

We encourage members to save regularly, whatever they can afford. Saving regularly is the first step to being good with money. As a member, you must keep a minimum balance of £5.00 to remain as a member. The maximum account balance is £15,000.00. If you exceed this we will notify you and you will need to transfer the excess over £15,000.00 elsewhere.

Yes, your savings are safe. We only lend money to members within our common bond and we take all precautions to lend responsibly. All your savings are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. This scheme guarantees individual savings up to £85,000.00, so higher than our maximum of £10,000.00. Details of this scheme can be found on the FSCS website.

Stroud Valleys Credit Union is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

You can pay in cash cheque at any of our customer service points or transfer money using your bank’s mobile or internet banking. You can set up a standing order to come from your bank regularly. If you set up a standing order, we will allocate the payment to whichever accounts you want when it reaches us. We can even split the payment when it arrives if you want us to.

We like our members to keep using their accounts as regular saving is part of good money management. If your account is left inactive for a lengthy period you might have to contact us here at the Stroud office to re-activate it and then make a further deposit.

You can withdraw by cheque or BACS transfer. We don’t hold cash at our customer service points.You can withdraw a cheque by request at our customer service points, or by contacting the main Stroud office. Please allow a couple of days as the cheque needs to be signed by 2 officers.You can withdraw by BACS (electronic transfer directly to a bank account) this can be processed within 1 working day. You will be asked to verify your Identity when applying or making withdrawals. Withdrawals will be refused if your loan is in arrears

Most of our accounts are intended for saving and we would not expect you to withdraw money very often. You can request a withdrawal using BACS. We process withdrawals every working day, but if we receive your request after 2pm it will be done on the following working day. Transfers can take some time to clear into your account, but should be there the same day they are processed. 

While you are saving or repaying a loan you will receive a statement annually, this is normally sent out with our Annual General Meeting notification letter. You can request an additional statement of your account at any time at a collection point or by phoning our main office in Stroud.

Rather than pay interest on savings, we divide any profit we make in a year between our members as an annual dividend. Any profit will be the money we reveive in interest on loans, less what it costs to operate Stroud Valleys Credit Union (SVCU). If it costs us more to operate SVCU than the money we receive in loan interest then we are unlikely to pay a dividend. If we make a profit, then the maximum dividend would be 8% Junior savers receive an interest rate which is voted upon by the members at the AGM

For Savers loans, some or all of your savings are held as security against your loan should you not repay it. These savings means we can offer a better rate of interest. Members with Saver loans, must keep a proportion of their loan balance (usually one half) in savings.

You can only withdraw from attached shares the equivalent to the amount of the loan you have paid off. This may take a little while to calculate and does need special approval. Once your loan has been repaid in full your attached shares will normally be transferred back into your savings account.Your savings balance must always equal at least half the amount you still owe on your loan. So, for example, if you borrowed £400 with savings of £200 then you can’t make a withdrawal. When you have repaid £100 of your £400 then you can withdraw £50 from savings and so on. This does take a while to calculate and needs special approval so you must give us notice. Once you have cleared your loan you can withdraw as normal. 

No. Your savings will be held against your loan if you fall behind with your repayments, as outlined in your member terms and conditions. If you have missed a payment or are finding it difficult to make the payments please contact the main Stroud office right away. We are always happy to discuss how we can help you to get your repayments back on track. The sooner we have the conversation, the better it is for everyone.

You can apply for a loan as soon as you join if you wish. But if you save regularly with us first then providing you can meet the qualifying conditions, you may be offered a better interest rate. Because we have seen you put money aside every week or month we consider you are more likely to make repayments when they are due. We ask you to keep saving regularly, whatever you can afford, even when repaying a loan.