Product Information

Our Family Loan product is a convenient way for people in receipt of Child Benefit to borrow money to deal with emergency situations, such as the replacement of household equipment or car repairs.

• Repayments are made via your Child Benefit payments. As part of the agreement, you will transfer these payments to your credit union account to cover your loan repayment and required savings, with the remainder either returned to your bank account or placed into your Acorn savings account. This return payment will be made by 8.00pm on the day on which your Child Benefit payments are received.
• Loans for first-time applicants are up to £500. After you have had your loan for one year and have been repaying regularly, you may apply for an increase to £750. After two years, assuming regular repayments, you may apply for an increase to £1,000. Loans of over £750 are only available to members with two or more children, so the Child benefit payment covers the loan repayment..
• You will be required to save alongside your loan at the rate of £2 per week (for a loan of up to £500) or £3.00 per week (for loans over £500). These savings cannot be withdrawn while the loan is in place.
• Interest rate is 3% per month (42.6% APR) and when you have had your Family Loan for two years you can apply for a loan balance of up to £1000, subject to our eligibility and lending criteria.
• Credit and affordability checks will be carried out for new applicants. For existing Family Loan members, we will carry out checks on a periodic basis.
• If you have an existing Child Benefit loan which has been transferred from Swan Community Bank, your existing limit will be honoured if you maintain a record of good repayments.
• We recommend that you clear your loan down every two years to prevent it becoming a rolling loan.

Examples:

Loan Amount	Repayment Amount	Required Savings	Total Payment
£500	£12/week	£2/week	£14/week
£750	£18/week	£3/week	£21/week

Topping up your Family Loan

• You may apply to top-up your Family Loan every 4 months. Top-ups are dependent on a continued pattern of good repayments and your overall ability to support repayments.
• When you top up your loan, we would recommend that you keep your required savings in your account, so you can build up a savings pot for the future. Required savings may be used as the basis for larger, Loyalty Savings Loans.