£10,000 Loans for Bad Credit
Updated: June 13, 2024 Author: Paul Gillooly
Key takeaways Many a lender will offer £10,000 loans for bad credit applicants. Not all are what they appear to be. Those promising guarantees with no credit checks should set alarm bells ringing. Responsible lenders will do a minimal “soft” credit check and a thorough affordability assessment to ensure the loan repayments can be maintained for the duration of the loan, without causing financial hardship.

Can you easily get a £10,000 loan with bad credit?
£10,000 is an amount that some payday loan companies or other small loan providers will not offer, leaving you with High Street banks as one of your main options. But before we dive into what you can do, we need to think about what borrowing with bad credit really means.
If you’re borrowing to cover an unexpected shortfall in income, or to fund some urgent home or vehicle repair, there’s a real temptation to take the fastest available offer. The problem here is that what looks ‘easy’ can quickly make things more difficult the moment the first few monthly repayments start becoming due.
When thinking about the ease of borrowing this relatively large sum of money, make sure you consider the ease of repaying it without experiencing hardship. You will also want to make sure the lender is thinking exactly the same thing, otherwise they’re just trying to profit from your family’s misfortune.
There are accessible lending options out there when you have bad credit, but your options will be significantly constrained compared to someone with good credit. You are where you are right now, so what we need to do is figure out how you can borrow in the most affordable manner. Affordability is the key when it comes to turning things around and getting back on your feet as quickly as possible.
How can you affordably borrow £10,000 with bad credit?
A personal credit score is a measure of how likely you are to keep up with repayments. This means the lender can use it to assess the level of risk they’re exposing themselves to, and therefore they set the interest rate accordingly. A track record of missing payments means a lower credit score, which translates to a higher rate of interest typically being charged to offset the lender’s risk.
Here are some key ways to make your loan more affordable from day one:
- Remember that shorter-term loans will typically have higher rates of interest because the lender will attempt to stack the charges higher to profit faster. For a loan of £10,000, consider how long you can realistically stretch the repayments while also having a backup plan if your income levels were to change during the term of the loan, i.e. you lost your main source of income 4 years into a 5 year loan.
- You could use a guarantor to secure the loan (they become liable if you miss a payment) possibly reducing the interest rate set by the lender because of the security being offered
- You could secure the loan against your car or home to reduce the interest rate — only do this if you have strong evidence that you can meet the repayment schedule for the entirety of the loan repayment period.
Thinking about how you will repay the loan, rather than just how quickly and easily you can get approved for it, is the best way to turn things around financially. You might feel that this is getting in the way of solving the stressful situation you’re in right now, but it will pay off in a big way in the near future because you’ll be able to clear your debt faster.
Will a High Street bank lend you £10,000 with bad credit?
£10,000 is a figure that typically won’t be offered to you via credit card or overdraft facility on your current account. Every High Street bank will offer reduced lending options, shorter terms, and higher interest when you have bad credit, and there’s just no getting away from that. Avoiding the temptation to go straight to ‘guaranteed’ lenders who make promises that seem to be too good to be true is the key here. For high street banks, the key wording is “recent”. The older entries are on your credit report, the more of a chance there is of having it overlooked. As an example, TSB offer loans of £1,000 to £25,000 with repayment terms of 1 to 7 years as a personal loan, and to be eligible, you must earn £850 net monthly income and have “no recent CCJs, Credit Defaults or Bankruptcies”. Most banks and building societies have similar wording, ruling out applicants with recent negative entries on their credit reports.
If the money is for a debt consolidation loan, it may be possible to borrow less than £10,000, settle your existing debts and benefit from the lower interest on the bigger loan amount. This could give you a higher likelihood of finding a loan product from a traditional High Street bank that meets your needs.
Can direct lender loans for bad credit be trusted?
A direct lender is a firm that provides the funds to you directly, without the need to approach another lender. The main advantage of going to a direct lender is that they do their own underwriting. Banks and similar financial institutions have a clear objective of who they can and can’t accept as customers. Direct lenders specialising in bad credit applicants have more control over the loan underwriting process. They do still need to be licensed because lending is a regulated activity overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority. They require lenders to follow due process to ensure customers are borrowing responsibly. Credit checking and affordability assessments are par for the course. Promises of ‘no checks needed’ or ‘guaranteed approval’ are a clear warning sign that the lender is attempting to exploit your situation for their own gain. Only applying for loans that are delivered by fully FCA-regulated institutions is the only way to go when you want to turn your financial situation around.
What’s the safest way to borrow £10,000 when you have bad credit?
Taking a moment to pause and then checking that the loan you’re considering meets all of the requirements below is the safest way to borrow £10,000 with bad credit:
- Ensure that the lender will carry out credit checks to make sure the loan is affordable and you will be able to repay it without hardship
- Promises of instant money and guaranteed approval need to be avoided as they can indicate that the lender is circumventing requirements set out by the FCA to ensure loans are affordable
- Check that the lender is regulated and overseen by the FCA so you know they are working in your best interests
Bad credit and financial pressure can make it hard to take a step back and consider the bigger picture, but it’s the most effective way to turn things around. If something sounds like an instant fix today, it will very often turn into a nightmare tomorrow. For loans of £10,000, you need to be thinking of the long-term affordability of the loan repayments. Not just how fast you can get a firm to approve the funding.