Unsecured Guarantor Loan

A guarantor loan is a type of unsecured loan that requires a guarantor to co-sign the credit agreement. A guarantor is a person who agrees to repay the borrower’s debt should he or she default on agreed repayments.

Guarantor loans are often seen as alternatives to payday loans and associated with the sub-prime finance industry, due to them being aimed at people who have no credit score, due to having never obtained credit in the past, or people with a damaged credit score, due to having missed payments towards debt in the past.

Although guarantors are a relatively new introduction to the unsecured loan market, it's not uncommon for people to be asked to provide a guarantor to co-sign other forms of financial agreement, such as in residential letting contracts, where young people without previous references are often required to provide a guarantor and in the mortgage industry, where guarantors are often used to help people obtain a mortgage when they would otherwise be declined due to being considered a credit risk.

These loans can often carry significant risks for the guarantor. A report suggests that these loans could be as damaging as payday loans, with 43% of guarantors in the study unclear about their financial liability.

Consumer Demographics

Users of guarantor loans are often people who would be rejected by mainstream lenders, such as banks and credit card providers, due to having less than perfect credit scores. There are an estimated 7 million consumers in the UK who are ineligible for a bank loan because of their credit score.

Some guarantor loan companies aim to position themselves as an alternative to payday loans, by offering loans at lower APRs than those offered by payday loan companies, whilst still higher than prime-credit consumers can access through mainstream banks.

See also

• Alternative financial services
• Surety
• Payday Loan
• Personal guarantee