An unsecured loan facility from your bank or building society will allow you to borrow between £1,000 to £25,000 over a period of between one and seven years. Once the loan is agreed and you have signed and returned the forms of agreement (regulated by the Consumer Credit Act) the loan amount will be paid into your bank account.

As the name suggests, the loan is not secured on your property and therefore unlike with a mortgage, your home is not usually at risk if you fail to keep up the repayments. You will sign an agreement with your lender to make monthly repayments for the agreed term of your loan until it is fully repaid. The interest rate and the monthly repayment amount are fixed for the duration of your borrowing.

You can arrange your loan, face to face at your local bank, via a postal application, or by the increasingly popular internet channel where you will find almost 100 online personal loans to choose from.