Focus on: Sainsbury's offers cheapest loan at 5.8%

Nectar cardholders can now take advantage of the lowest loan rate for years, thanks to Sainsbury's Bank slashing the headline rate on its flagship loan to as little as 5.8%.

This is only the case if you borrow between £7,500 and £15,000 over one to three years, though.

Here, we go over the terms of the offer with a fine toothcomb so that you can work out if it is the right loan for you.

What's the deal?

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If you are a Nectar cardholder, you can now borrow from £7,500 to £15,000 at a representative APR of just 5.8%through Sainsbury's Bank's Nectar Cardholder Personal Loan.

However, you must repay the loan within three years to benefit from this market leading rate, which is also dependent on your credit score.

For non-Nectar cardholders, meanwhile, the cheapest representative APR available has also fallen to 5.9%, just 0.1 percentage points higher than the Nectar customer offer.

And the good news is that this rate is available over five years, giving lower monthly repayments of just £144.11 on a £7,500 loan or £288.49 on £15,000.

Any catches?

The main catch with this deal is that you must have a Nectar card, as well as a squeaky-clean credit file, to be offered the best rate.

The amount you borrow is also crucial, with smaller loans of £3,000 attracting interest at a representative APR of 12.8%, and £5,000 loans being charged at 7.6%.

Given that loans at 5.8% are only available over up to three years, it is important to ensure that you will be able to manage the monthly repayments - especially as there is also no option for repayment holidays or lump sum payments.

Anyone choosing to redeem the loan early will also be charged 30 days' or one month's interest as a penalty, while those who miss a direct debit payment will be hit with a £25 charge.

It is worth noting, however, that these conditions are similar to those on most competitively priced personal loans.

Verdict

As the lowest loan rate on market at the moment, this is a great offer for Nectar cardholders looking to borrow between £7,500 and £15,000 over a shorter term.

It may not, however, be worth stretching yourself to manage the higher monthly payments that come with repaying the loan over three rather than five years just to pay interest at 5.8% rather than 5.9%.

This is especially true as Derbyshire Building Society is offering personal loans of between £7,500 and £15,000 over one to five years at a representative APR of 5.9% too.

It is also worth pointing out that both deals are only available to borrowers with good credit scores. Should your score be found wanting, you are therefore likely to be offered a higher interest rate.

Top tip

If you do not need to borrow as much as £7,500, you could avoid paying any interest altogether by using a credit card offering 0% on purchases, or balance transfers if you need the money to pay off existing debts.

The best balance transfer credit card on the market at the moment is the Barclaycard Platinum credit card with extended balance transfer.

It offers an impressive 22 months interest-free (subject to a fee of 2.9% of the amount to be transferred), after which the rate payable jumps to a representative APR of 17.9%.

For purchases, meanwhile, the Tesco Clubcard credit card offers 0% for 16 months plus nine months interest-free on balance transfers (subject to a 2.9% fee).

Fail to clear your debts within the 0% period, however, and you will pay interest at a representative APR of 16.9%.