Customers are
our top priority.

• How much can I borrow and what will it cost? More

  We offer loans for many purposes, from £1,000 to £15,000, but the amount we lend depends on your individual circumstances. Four things help us to decide what we’ll lend you and how much the repayments will be: We look at the following:

  • What you can afford
  • If you own your home or rent it
  • Your income and outgoings
  • Your credit history

  Your Meridian Investment Inc account manager will need to assess these things when you meet to decide what loan would be most suitable. That’s why you may need to bring a few important documents with you.

• What documents must I bring to the meeting? More

  We’ll need to see some things when finalising your loan. This can sometimes be done prior to your branch visit using Open Banking and our document upload portal. If you’re unsure what documents you need to provide, please reach out to your account manager, and they will be happy to help.

  Some of the documents we can ask to see are listed below:

  Proof of identity for each borrower

  • A valid passport
  • A valid driving licence
  • If you are self-employed in the construction industry, a signed photographic registration card (Forms C1S4, C1S4(P), C1S4(T), C1S5 or C1S6)

  Proof of where you live

  • A recent utility bill
  • A bank statement
  • A car tax renewal letter from the DVLA

  Proof of your income and regular outgoings

  • Most recent payslip (within 60 days)
  • Two months’ bank account statements
  • Accountant’s reference
  • Self-Assessment Return
  • Previous year’s audited accounts
  • SE60 slips – last 4 weeks

  Having trouble locating any of the documents? Don’t panic – there are other options! Speak to one of our account managers by locating your local branch here and they’ll discuss the alternatives with you.

• How long will my branch appointment take? More

  After arranging your branch visit, a meeting with your account manager should take approximately 60 minutes. In most cases, we’ll be able to confirm your loan details and arrange the payout of funds into your account.

• Do I have to visit a branch to finalise my loan? More

  In most cases, we like to meet in person so we can clearly explain all the finer details of your loan and allow our customers to ask any questions. To ensure each loan is appropriate for all our customers, we like to have an open conversation. This is one of the reasons that allows us to lend to customers whom other lenders may have turned away.

• What does Conditional Approval mean? More

  If you begin your loan application online, you may be given conditional approval for a loan prior to being referred to one of our branches. This means that based on the information you have provided online and the checks we have made so far, we can progress to the next stage of your application. However, we still need to do more checks before we can fully approve your application.

  Conditional approval is mostly based on information that we obtain from credit reference agencies. The final stages of your loan application will also include an affordability assessment which is designed to check that you have enough disposable income to afford all the monthly loan repayments. To do this, we will ask your permission to access your bank statement information electronically using your bank’s ‘Open Banking’ service. If this isn’t possible, we will ask for your recent bank statements in paper form. We use these and other information you provide, such as details of your rent or mortgage payments, to build a picture of your regular monthly income and expenses.

  We will show you the affordability calculation and ask you to check it. In most cases, it will allow us to offer a loan. However, it could mean that we can only offer a smaller loan amount or lend over a longer duration because that allows us to bring the monthly payments down to an affordable level. In some cases, the affordability assessment shows that the loan would be unaffordable, so the application cannot proceed.

• What is the difference between the rate of interest and the APR? More

  Our Pre-contract Credit Information documents and the Loan Agreements show two percentages:

  the rate of interest – e.g., 71.3%; and
  the Annual Percentage Rate of Charge (APR) – e.g., 99.9%.

  You may wonder what the difference is.

  The percentages shown above are from our Representative Example. Depending on your circumstances, your loan may have different values. However, the APR will always be the higher of the two figures.

  The rate of interest

  The lower figure, the interest rate, is the price you pay to borrow money. It’s shown as a percentage, and it’s charged on the outstanding balance.

  The APR

  The higher figure, the APR, is a standard way of expressing the cost of borrowing. The law requires that all lenders show it, and they must all calculate it according to the exact same rules. The APR is a good way for you to compare the total cost of credit from different lenders.

  If, unlike Meridian Investment Inc, another lender applies extra charges in addition to interest, these must also be included in the APR calculation.

  The APR represents the interest rate as if interest is calculated once per year rather than each month. This means it includes the effect of compounding, which is why it appears as a higher percentage amount. It can therefore be used to compare the charges from different lenders even if they make their interest calculations at different frequencies, e.g. daily, monthly or annually.

  Key messages

  The most important things to remember are:

  The APR is a standard way of describing the cost of a loan, and all lenders calculate it in the same way. It is a good way to compare the cost of different loan offers, including from other lenders. This is true even if there are extra fees, interest is calculated at different frequencies (e.g., daily, monthly or annually), or the loan durations differ.

  The rate of interest and the APR are both ways of describing the cost of borrowing. For loans like ours, which have no extra fees, they amount to the same thing. It’s a bit like 30 miles per hour being the same as 48 kilometres per hour – it’s still the same speed, and if that’s how fast you drive your car, then you will still reach your destination at the same time.

  You should also consider the Total Charge for Credit, the loan duration, and the monthly repayment amount. If you make all your payments in full and on time, the amount you pay will be shown in the agreement. However, if you miss payments or pay late, there will be more interest to pay.

  You can usually reduce the overall amount of interest you pay by making a full or partial early settlement. You can also choose to make bigger monthly repayments. If you want to do this, please contact your branch.

• What is interest? More

  Interest is the way that lenders charge for credit. At Meridian Investment Inc, your legal agreement shows the ‘total charge for credit’. This is the total amount you will pay back to us assuming you pay on time every month. It includes the amount you borrowed and the interest due to be charged. If you make late or reduced payments or you miss it altogether, the amount of interest you pay could increase. Alternatively, if you make early or increased payments, the amount of interest you pay could reduce.

  Interest calculations can be tricky to understand, especially if payments have been missed or paid late. This is because we work out the interest every month and it isn’t just charged on the outstanding loan amount but also on any unpaid interest that was calculated previously. This is known as “compounding”.

  Although the amount of interest you pay will depend on whether you make your payments on time, the rate will never change. This is because, at Meridian Investment Inc, our rates are fixed for the duration of the loan.

  Some lenders apply extra charges to their loans as well as interest. For example, they may charge an additional fee to cover the administration cost of a missed or late payment. Meridian Investment Inc never apply extra fees or charges on top of the interest.

Settlements

• Early settlement – How is interest calculated? More

  If you decide that you’d like to settle your loan before the full term has been reached, you can request a settlement figure from your local branch at any time.

  The Consumer Credit (Early Settlement) Regulations 2004 allows us to calculate an early settlement interest charge of up to 58 days interest on all accounts where a customer has requested an early settlement figure to clear the account fully. The interest calculation is as follows.

  • 28 days – The settlement figure is valid for 28 days. This is the interest cost for these days.
  • 30 days – As per CCA regulations, your settlement date is deferred by one month.

  The interest is calculated on the balance outstanding on the day of the request. The settlement figure will include interest accrued but not yet applied since the previous due date.

• I have had a deferment – what is my new loan end date? More

  A deferral is a form of forbearance that we may offer customers experiencing short-term difficulty with repayments. If you suffer a one-off problem, we may agree to defer one or more payments to the end of the contracted loan period, if it agreed that this is the most suitable option for you.

  The deferral typically only applies to one or two payments. It usually results in needing to pay more overall because more interest will build up before you fully pay off the loan.

  The new loan completion date will depend on how many months’ worth of payments have been moved to the end of the term through the deferral process. If your account has had two payments deferred, this will add two months to the end of the loan. The extra interest due to the balance being higher by those two months will create as much as a half payment per month deferred. You can reduce this extra interest by making extra payments during the remainder of the term, should your circumstances allow you to do so.

  Your local branch will be able to give you the current loan end date, as you may have had more payments deferred than in the example above or more than one deferral transaction on your loan.

Repayment Questions

• I am finding it difficult to pay my monthly instalment. What can I do? More

  If you have not already done so, please get in touch with us as soon as you can. We know customers sometimes suffer a loss of income or have significant unexpected expenses. We also know that bereavement, relationship breakdown or other life events can make it difficult to manage your finances. Our account managers are trained to help you assess the situation, minimise any negative consequences, and find a way forward that works for you. We are committed to acting in good faith. We aim to provide you with clear information and practical options to support you if you experience any difficulties.

• I’m now able to make a payment; what can I do? More

  If you missed a single payment for a one-off reason and you can now pay, please visit https://payment.evlo.co.uk/ or call us to make a payment. We only report to credit reference agencies monthly, so there may still be time to prevent this from being reported on your credit file, which is used to calculate your credit score.

• I’ve had a problem this month but expect to be fine next month. What should I do? More

  You may have had a one-off unexpected expense this month, but you are confident things will be back to normal next month. If so, then please give us a call. When this sort of thing happens, we are usually able to defer the missed payment until the end of the agreement. This would extend your loan by the number of payments deferred, and this would cause extra interest to accrue, which would also extend the duration of the loan and the amount you pay. However, you can reduce this extra interest by making additional payments during your loan term, should your circumstances allow you to do so.

• My disposable income has decreased, what can I do? More

  If you are suffering an ongoing reduction in your disposable income, perhaps because you have lost some income or have additional expenses due to a change in personal circumstances, it is even more important to get in touch.

  In circumstances like this, our account managers will carry out a fresh affordability assessment to help you and us understand what you can now afford. This usually enables us to offer a payment arrangement with smaller monthly repayments. It will take longer to repay the loan, but we can sometimes waive the extra interest, so you may not pay more overall. The payment arrangement will be recorded on your credit file, but many lenders will regard this as being less serious than multiple missed payments because it shows you have taken action to manage the situation.

• What happens if I don’t contact you regarding missed payments? More

  If you don’t contact us or you don’t ask a debt advisor to get in touch with us on your behalf, then we will continue to try and contact you to collect payments. Additional interest will be added to your account, and any missed payments will be recorded with credit reference agencies. This could negatively impact your credit score and ability to obtain finance in the future.

  If you continue to miss payments and your account falls into significant arrears, we will put your loan agreement into ‘default’, and this will be recorded on your credit file by credit reference agencies. Most lenders will regard this as a serious event, so it will likely make it difficult for you to obtain credit in the future. Information about missed payments and defaults stays on your credit file for six years.

  At this point, we may ask a third-party debt collector to contact you in order to recover the outstanding debt. If this is unsuccessful, we may initiate court proceedings, which could result in you receiving a County Court Judgement (CCJ).

  We may also opt to sell your debt to a third party that specialises in buying and recovering defaulted loans.

  For more information, please visit our support pages on our website at www.evlo.co.uk/support

• What is the impact of paying a lump sum onto my account? More

  When you pay a lump sum onto your account, you will reduce the balance of your loan account by more than the usual monthly payments set out in your contract. If your balance is lower, then the cost of the interest each month after the lump sum has been paid is also lower than it would have been. This saves you interest every month throughout the remaining term of the loan and can have a substantial impact, depending on the size of the lump sum.

  If you decide that you’d like to speed up the completion of the loan with us and cannot afford a sizeable lump sum, you also have the option to increase your monthly payments by the amount you feel comfortable with, and that will have a similar impact on the interest costs over the remaining term.

  In all cases, a quick call to your local branch would be the best way to get all the information you need to decide on your next steps.

• What is the impact on my account when I change my due date? More

  If you change your due date forward from its current due date, say from the 25th to the 28th, then there will be more days between the due date for that particular month. Interest will need to be paid for those extra days. In the example above, that would be interest for three extra days in the month you are changing the due date.

  Moving forward

  When you request to change your due date forward, your local branch will suggest you pay the difference in interest at the same time that they process your due date change request. If you don’t pay that amount, the balance of your account will be higher by the amount of interest for those three days for the remaining term of the loan. That small increase in the balance will mean that your monthly interest will be higher for the remaining term and could amount to a sizeable extra cost overall. This depends on a number of variables, such as the amount you borrowed, the term you chose initially, and how many days you want to move the due date forward. We can move the due date forward for a maximum of fifteen days.

  Moving backwards

  The impact of moving your due date backwards in a month has the opposite impact on moving it forward, in that the interest for that month will be less as there will be fewer days between the due dates in that month. It correspondingly means that there will be a lower balance on the account for the remaining term of the loan. This can lead to a sizeable saving in the overall cost of the loan. If you change the date your direct debit is set to go out, it has the same impact on the reduction in overall cost and is often a simpler process.

  In all cases, a quick call to your local branch would be the best way to get all the information you need to decide on your next steps.

• Can I arrange for a third party to discuss my account on my behalf? More

  Customers can authorise Meridian Investment Inc to deal with a third party in certain circumstances, perhaps where they are difficult to get hold of through working away for prolonged periods, where there may be a vulnerability that makes it difficult, or when dealing with a third-party debt management company.

  The authorisation should be in the form of a letter of authority or explicit permission from you on a recorded line when speaking to your local branch. The examples above are not exhaustive; if you have any circumstances where you feel it would be beneficial to have a third party authorised, please contact your local branch who will be happy to advise you on the options you might have.

• Why can’t I borrow more? – I’ve been told my credit score is too low More

  When you apply for a loan, even if you are already an Meridian Investment Inc customer, our computer systems will retrieve your up-to-date credit file from a credit reference agency. This includes details about your financial commitments with other lenders and utilities, the amount you have borrowed, your balance and whether you have missed payments. It may also include ‘footprints’ of your past loan applications, even if unsuccessful.

  If you have missed payments on loans previously, including with other lenders, this will be considered. The credit file also records details about loan defaults and CCJs. Information like this remains on your file for six years and will affect your credit score. It is also possible that your score is not high enough to secure further lending simply because you have not yet built up a track record of making payments. Our systems will check that your score falls within our target range. If it doesn’t, regrettably, we cannot offer further lending at this time.

  Here at Meridian Investment Inc, we use Equifax and TransUnion credit reference agencies. You can sign up to view your credit file information free of charge at www.equifax.co.uk and www.transunion.co.uk.

  There are things you can do to help your credit score, and we’ve listed some tips below.

  • Show lenders that you are reliable by making payments on time and in full.
  • If you have a credit card, try not to max out your credit limit or go over it.
  • Make sure you are on the electoral roll at your current address.
  • Check if you’re linked to another person. Having a friend or family member’s credit rating linked to yours through a joint account could affect your rating if they have a low score.
  • Try to limit the number of loan applications you make. ‘Footprints’ left on your credit file by multiple loan applications may make lenders think it would be riskier to lend to you.

  You can find more advice on improving your credit score on the credit reference agencies’ websites.

• Can I have a payment holiday? More

  We don’t currently offer a payment holiday at Meridian Investment Inc. If the need for a payment holiday is due to a temporary issue, we have a number of forbearance options that may be suitable, depending on your circumstances. You should call your local branch to discuss these, and they will advise on the best options available to you.

Guarantor Loans

• I have a guarantor loan with TrustTwo or George Banco. More

  We have dedicated FAQ pages for both George Banco and TrustTwo customers; see here for further information: https://www.trusttwo.co.uk/faqs or https://www.georgebanco.com/faqs