In 2005, Zopa built the first ever peer-to-peer lending company to give people access to simpler, better-value loans and investments. Taking the stress out of money by building their business on honesty, transparency and trust. You can read more about them here.

They’re rated ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot. You can read more reviews here.

Absolutely. They’re authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Prudential Regulation Authority and Peer-to-Peer Finance Association.

As a responsible lender, Zopa takes several things into account to help decide if they can offer you finance. Here are the main criteria.

You'll need to…

•Confirm your identity
•Be at least 20 years old
•Be a UK resident with at least 3 years of address history
•Be employed, self-employed or retired with a pension
•Have an income of at least £12,000 per year (before tax)
•Have a credit history that they can see, and a good track record of repaying debt, e.g. utility bills, credit cards
•Be able to afford the car finance (in relation to your income and outgoings)

It takes just 3 minutes to find out if you're eligible and see your personalised rates. Don't worry, this won't affect your credit score.

Please keep in mind, they can't offer joint applications or guarantor loans.

Zopa provides competitive rates to all customers depending upon the credit score.

You can directly reach out to Zopa via email contactus@zopa.com or phone 020 7580 6060. They will reply during the normal working hours.

Zopa provides Hire Purchase finance which is secured against the car, and is one of the most common ways to finance a car in the UK. Zopa will own the car until the end of the agreement, but once the final direct debit is taken from your account ownership will automatically transfer to you – no extra payments needed.

It’s important to note that if you default on your finance, Zopa can repossess and then sell the car, subject to meeting the conditions detailed in the Consumer Credit Act. You can read more information here.

No. Although if you miss a repayment it’ll be marked on your credit file which may affect your ability to gain credit in the future.

Technically, Zopa will own the car until you’ve paid off your Hire Purchase finance in full, but there’s no need to feel like it isn’t yours. They don’t put a limit on how many miles you drive and, once you’ve made your final repayment, ownership is automatically transferred to you.

If you do have some funds available to use as a deposit, you can put this down and this will reduce your total loan amount, and could potentially improve your chances of getting an approval for a loan to start off with. However, a deposit isn’t mandatory, and depending upon your credit score it is possible to get the loan approved without any deposit.

No.

No, it’s mandatory that the person applying for finance must have an up-to-date driving licence.

Zopa can tell you some of the main reasons why they decline an application, but can't tell you exactly why they couldn't approve yours. This is a security measure which helps keep Zopa and its customers safe.

Zopa understands that it can feel frustrating, so please have a look at the list below, and you might see one or more which could relate to you.

They may say no, if:

•Your existing level of unsecured debt is high
•There’s not enough information in your credit file
•Your level of disposable income is low
•There’s not much proof that you’ve managed credit well in the past
•Your credit score is low, according to TransUnion and Equifax
•You've applied for a Zopa Hire Purchase finance in the past 6 months

It's not the end of the road. You're welcome to reapply for Zopa Hire Purchase finance after 6 months. Please keep in mind, you won't be able to apply if you try again sooner than this.

Getting pre-approved for your Hire Purchase finance means Zopa are pretty confident they can say “yes” based on the info you’ve given. They’ll have used your information to perform a ‘soft’ search on your credit file, to check you meet their criteria. The good news is, soft searches have no impact on your credit score.

If you do decide to go ahead and apply for the Hire Purchase finance, that’s when Zopa will add a ‘hard’ search to your credit file. It’s important to note that even if you’re pre-approved, your application could still be declined if anything changes on your credit file while you’re applying, or you don’t pass Zopa’s fraud and ID checks.

It’s valid for 30 calendar days, so you’ve got plenty of time to find your dream car on CarNext.com. You’ll also receive a reference code to correspond with your quote.

You’ll need to follow the pre-approval steps again to get another quote for Zopa Hire Purchase finance.

Your Hire Purchase finance isn’t final until you’ve signed your agreement, so you can get a quote on as many amounts as you like with no impact to your credit score.

You can change your amount through Zopa’s pre-approval journey or directly with us when you choose the car.

However, Zopa can’t guarantee you’ll be pre-approved for the new amount if it’s more than you originally applied for.

Once your loan is approved and you have signed the finance and car purcahse agreements, Zopa will transfer the money directly to CarNext.

Yes, of course. Zopa automatically sets the date to 30 days after your Hire Purchase finance was approved but it’s easy to change. Simply sign into your Zopa account, select your Hire Purchase finance and follow the steps.

Yes, you can pay more towards your Hire Purchase finance whenever you like, and Zopa won’t charge you any fees. If you do pay more, your monthly payments will reduce, but the term of your finance will stay the same, unless you pay off the full finance early. You can make extra repayments online by signing into your Zopa account, selecting your Hire Purchase finance and following the steps.

If you default on your finance with Zopa, they can repossess and then sell the car, subject to meeting the conditions detailed in the Consumer Credit Act. You can read more information here.

The annual percentage rate on a loan is the amount the lender would charge if you borrowed the money for a year, as a percentage of the original loan. For instance at 10% APR, to borrow for a year you'd be charged 10% of the original loan, on top of paying it back. So if you borrowed £100 at 10% APR for a year, you'd have to pay back the loan plus £10.

An interest rate, or a nominal interest rate, refers only to the interest charged on a loan, and it does not take any other expenses into account. In contrast, APR is the combination of the nominal interest rate and any other costs or fees involved in procuring the loan. As a result, an APR tends to be higher than a loan's nominal interest rate.

When you apply for a loan, finance provider will “pull” your credit report so they can understand your past borrowing behaviour (also called a “credit check” or “credit inquiry”). A soft credit check won’t impact your credit score or show up on your credit report. On the other hand, a hard credit check might cause you to see a slight drop in your credit score, and it will show up on your credit report (meaning it will be visible to other lenders).

When Zopa calculates your personalised and pre-approved Hire Purchase finance rate, they’ll only do a soft credit check. It’s only if you apply for the finance that they’ll perform a hard check.

Credit reference agencies, also known as credit bureaus, securely collect, store and maintain information about your credit history. They give loan providers access to your credit file (though never without your permission) to help them make a decision when you apply for a loan. When you check your personalised rates with Zopa, you agree to let us to carry out a soft credit search with the credit reference agencies we work with. This doesn't affect your credit score.

Credit reference agencies have to share your credit report with you if you request it. Some companies charge a fee, some are free, and some offer you a free trial period (remember to cancel your subscription if you don't want to be charged). CheckMyFile is a multi-agency credit report service with a free trial.