Professional studies loans- Interest Rates?

[Chick]

Hello everyone,
I know there is a large thread re. experiences with HSBC/Barclays etc in terms of how people have found getting a loan sorted.

I just wondered if people could post the initial/current interest rates that their loans are on...I realise that most of the loans will be set at a percentage over the base rate e.g. 2.5% and so the interest rate will change depending on base rate movements.
Also, there are other things such as the maximum amount they are prepared to loan, how much you can drawn down at once etc etc.

However, it would be good to get a snapshot of what is going on at the moment & also to see how the rates vary between the banks,

Cheers, Chick

[Chick]

Any takers? the key thing for me is the interest rate- basically 'how much' the loan costs.
Other features such as 'payment holidays' etc are quite appealling but at the end of the day you're paying for it in the form of interest.

Or maybe- anyone who has taken the loan out recently for the upcoming academic year, what rate is yours on, with which bank etc.?
It would really help as I've only just started investigating these loans,

Thanks Chick

[Rupe]

my loans with HSBC for £35,000 and the interest rate was quoted as 8% repayements dont start till 6months after graduation....

Hope this helps

PS. loans for med students arent necessarily Prof Studies Loans....PSLs are only upto a max of £25,000....Med students are elligable to larger loans at their banks discretion...

hope this helps....

R

[Bambi]

At HSBC the standard rate is 2.75% above the base rate. You can take as much as you want at a time, I am getting mine once a year but some people prefer to get some each term or each month. The max is usually 25K from HSBC or Barclays, Natwest is 20K, HSBC is the only one you can get it from if you are a first year on a 5 year course.

[TJH]

Hey Chick,

I'm starting at Warwick (GEP) next month and have just sent off my application for a PSL with NatWest, with whom I hold a student account.

NatWest offer up to £20,000, as Bambi said, and have two choices with respect to interest rates: Fixed or Variable. At present, the 'fixed' rate for comparision (APR) is 7.9 %, and the 'variable' rate tracks at 2 % above the base rate (currently 4.75 %).

As with most other PSL's offered by highstreet banks, you can choose whether payments are made to you as a lump sum or in instalments on dates on your choosing.

I'm not sure if you're interested, but the process for me with NatWest was, I think, as easy as it gets. As you're probably aware if you've been reading the forums, peoples experiences have been largely dependent on the branch that they visit, irrespective of the bank, and I also found this initially with NatWest. However, luckily Warwick has a NatWest branch on campus with a Graduate Banking Manager who is obviously very familiar with setting up PSL's and was extremely helpful. I chatted to her about what I wanted the PSL for (besides the obvious!) and how to go about setting one up. I downloaded the application form from the NatWest site (http://www.natwest.com/personal02.as...G_LOAN/TRAINEE) filled it in - gave her a call for some help with some ambiguous parts, which she talked me through - and posted it off to her. As she's going away relatively soon she said she would turn it around within the next week for me.

It's worth noting a couple things though: I already bank with NatWest so she was able to access my account details the first time we spoke and could see the status of my account - whether it was on Student or Graduate terms etc. Also, although people have had an easy time transferring their main banking relationship to another bank and this can be relatively straight forward, not having to go through that process (confirm identity/address and provide financial details/recent bank statements...) has meant I've been able to save a LOT of time setting up a PSL. I assume the same would be true for other banks as well.

God, I waffled! I hope that it (1) made sense and (2) is of some help or interest to you!

TOM

[Chick]

Hey everyone,

Thanks very much for those replies...it looks like I will probably go with HSBC, although I am trying to put it off until I really am desperate!
Yes, the interest rate is 2.75 above the base right, keeping an eye out as interest rates seem to be going in the upwards direction.

I did go in to Barclays but I can only get one from the 2nd year onwards...although I did explain to them to current situation with respect to graduates paying fees upfront & the consequent demand for loans- I said to the advisor that Barclays is missing a whole chunk of potential new customers!

Thanks for detailing the Nat West procedure TJH, I actually used to bank with them when I was a student but I recently shut the account as I have a main account elsewhere.

Thanks again, Chick