Home New Horizons Loan Review 2021 – READ THIS BEFORE Applying!
Nica

New Horizons lending company logoIn the event you find yourself in a financial rut, you might need some rescuing. There are lots of lenders to help at such times, and that’s where the problem lies, making a choice.

We have undertaken a comprehensive review of one of the UK’s popular lenders, New Horizons. In this review, we analyze the top features, highlights and downsides of this platform.

At the end of it all, you should be in a position to determine whether it is the right lender for you or not.

Read on to find everything you need to know about New Horizons and make the best choice.

In This Guide

Try Our Recommended UK Payday Loan Provider 2020:

  • Get an Instant Quote
  • Apply within 2 Minutes
  • Friendly Support Service
  • FCA Regulated
*Subject to lender requirements and approval.

What is New Horizons?

New Horizons Loan Review...

New Horizons is the registered trading name of New Horizons Finance Ltd, an Introducer Appointed Representative of Flux Funding Ltd. The company is registered in Wales and England and is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Flux Funding is not a direct lender; rather, it functions as a credit broker. In simple terms, this means that it offers credit matching services for applicants looking for financing. To achieve this, it makes use of a credit matching service.

But it does not charge customers for the service and instead, gets a commission from its lending partners when a customer takes out a loan using its platform.

 

New Horizons is a lending service broker that lets you access lots of loan options from a variety of FCA-approved lenders. While the average rates accessible are competitive, borrowers are subject to the terms and conditions of the different lenders.

Pros and Cons of a New Horizons Loan

Pros

  • Offers lots of versatility in terms of its loan limits and loan periods
  • Has a highly competitive rate
  • Does not charge any extra fees
  • Won the Gold Trusted Service Award 2019
  • You can get a no obligation quote to assess affordability before signing up
  • Makes use of advanced technology, Soft Credit Match, to help you find the best loan
  • There is no paperwork required
  • It is easy to access funding on the platform as it works with many partner lenders

Cons

  • Since it leaves no credit footprint, the platform will not help a poor creditor improve their rating
  • It is a credit broker, not a direct lender

How does a New Horizons loan work?

As mentioned above, New Horizons is a credit brokerage service. Therefore, when you apply for a loan on the platform, its partner lenders perform a soft credit check. This is an exercise meant to assess your eligibility without affecting your credit score.

New Horizons offers its services online and has no brick and mortar stores. Once you apply for a loan, you should get multiple responses and choose the best rate from a panel of lenders. That explains why the representative APR rate on the platform is relatively low in comparison to competitors.

Interest rates

The representative APR rate refers to the average rate at which at least 51% of borrowers access funding on a given platform. Given the fact that the rate on this platform is 49.9%, it means that most borrowers get better than average rates. It is understandable because the lenders are in a competition.

If there is a lender who finds you eligible based on their requirements, they will give you a loan offer. You have the option of accepting or rejecting offers. When you do accept an offer, they will perform a hard credit check which could impact your credit score.

Generally speaking, once you get approval, you should receive funding within a span of 15 minutes. But this may vary depending on your bank’s procedures and policies.

Screengrab of the New Horizons homepage

No obligation quote

One of the highlights of the service is the possibility of getting a 100% no obligation loan quote. All you have to do is specify the period for which you want the loan, select the reason why you need the loan and submit some basic details to get a general idea of the cost of borrowing.

The matching technology that the platform uses matches applicants with over 50 lenders, who are approved by the Financial Conduct Authority. One of the key highlights of this technology is that it offers you a chance to weigh the odds of getting approved for a loan without affecting your score.

By selecting the option of checking eligibility, the platform automatically carries out a soft credit check. It takes approximately 60 seconds and does not leave a footprint on your score. Based on this, you can decide whether or not to take the plunge and actually apply for a loan.

Though this will now involve a hard credit check, it will be worthwhile as you can be sure of approval if the eligibility test was a positive.

Whether you are a first-time lender or are an existing customer, you can access loans ranging from £50 and £5,000. These are accessible for loan terms of between 3 and 36 months.

Repayments

When it comes to repayments, every lender on the platform has their own unique policies. Though New Horizons does not charge any extra fees, some lenders might charge for missed or late payments. They also differ in their methods of collecting outstanding debts.

The key is to assess the loan terms thoroughly before signing on the agreement form. Note that with most lenders, non-payment will result in charges and/or raised interests. For those who do not charge, it may still affect your credit score and is therefore a sensitive matter.

No matter who your lender is, always contact them in advance when you are not able to make a repayment on the set date. Some may offer to renew the loan, which could result in additional charges. Others may opt to make alternative repayment arrangements.

What loan products does New Horizons offer?

By virtue of the fact that New Horizons has a wide range of lenders providing funding options, you can access almost any type of loan. Some of the available options include:

Payday loans – these are the shortest term loans available on the platform as they are typically repayable by the next payday. They usually feature low loan limits and have high interest rates. As such, they are ideal for handling cash emergencies as you wait for payday. But given the fact that they are payable within a short term, the impact of the high interest rate is not as profound.

Short term installment loans – in case you need a slightly higher loan amount payable within a longer time span, a short term installment loan is ideal. This is a loan which offers a repayment option in small installments spread out over a period. They typically last for up to 12 months.

New Horizons Account Creation and Borrowing Process

The account creation and borrowing process on New Horizons is quite simple.

1. Start by visiting the site and selecting the loan amount from £50 to £5,000. Next, click on the “Get your loan quote” tab.

New Horizons loan application page

You can leave the amount as it is or adjust it, then set the desired loan term, between 3 months and 36 months.

2. Click “Next” and then stipulate the reason for your loan.

New horizons loan application page capturing personal information

You will get various choices such as short term cash, car loan, pay bills, debt consolidation, home improvement and others. When you select one of these options, you will get to see the number of lenders who can fulfill your request.

3. Next, you need to enter your personal details. These include your name, date of birth, email address, phone numbers – home and mobile, gender, marital status and number of dependents.

Once you have populated these details, you need to provide information about where you live. Enter the postcode and address, then input your homeownership status, time at the address and then proceed to the next step.

4. After that, you will need to enter your employment status and then specify how you get paid.

The options here include electronically, cash and other.

5. Next, enter your monthly financial expenditure including rent, bills, food, transport, other loans and any other payments.

6. Finally, you need to submit your bank information to show where the funds should be sent.

These include the bank card type, account number and sort code.

These are all the information you need to get a loan quote. Remember that at this point, the lenders will only perform soft checks. They will only carry out the hard check once you accept an offer.

It’s essential to be cautious during the sign up process for these products. This is because you can end up owing two to three times what you borrow on the longer-term loans, and many have difficulty repaying the short-term loans without reborrowing.

Eligibility Criteria for New Horizons Loan

Qualifying for a loan on the platform is not difficult. Here are the qualifications that you need to meet:

  • Be over 18 years of age
  • Have a bank account with a valid debit card
  • Be employed
  • Have your wages paid into your bank account
  • Be a resident of the UK

Information Borrowers Need to Provide to Get New Horizons Loan

As with any other lending platform, New Horizons requires quite a substantial amount of information. Here are some of the details you will need to provide:

  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • Email address
  • Contact details
  • Homeownership status
  • Employment status
  • Income details
  • Frequency and method of pay
  • Monthly expenditure
  • Marital status
  • Number of dependents
  • Bank account information

What are New Horizons loan borrowing costs?

New Horizons offers a wide range of options for borrowers. Take a look at some of the rates:

  • APR – rates between 9.3% and 1,294%
  • Representative APR – 49.9%

Representative example:

  • Borrowed amount – £1,200
  • Loan term – 18 months
  • Total amount repayable – £1,628.28
  • Monthly installments – £90.46
  • Total interest – £428.28
  • Interest rate – 49.9%

New Horizons Customer Support

There isn’t much information online about the New Horizons support team online. But such information does not matter much as they are not direct lenders.

It might be more important to consider the customer reviews on the lender who services your request. Take a moment to do this before signing up for the loan so as to avoid disappointment.

Is it safe to borrow from New Horizons?

New Horizons makes use of standard encryption techniques for all the data on its site. It is also an authorized and regulated entity under the FCA. As such, there is a measure of safety when borrowing from the platform.

However, you need to keep in mind that they have to share your information with third-party lenders as they are a brokerage service.

Additionally, as with any other online platform, you need to exercise some common sense caution when uploading your information. For instance, the use of a public computer poses a greater risk of hacking. So it might be best to use a private PC to reduce the level of risk.

New Horizons Review Verdict

Based on its key features, New Horizons is a great choice of platform for short term borrowers. It offers remarkable flexibility and versatility in terms of its loan limits and terms. This is by virtue of the fact that it works with numerous lenders.

But therein lies its major disadvantages too. As a broker service, they have to share your data with third parties, which poses a security and privacy risk. Additionally, they do not have any level of control over the rates and policies of these third parties.

Thus, though it might be a great platform, you will be dealing with a third party and the outcome might be unsatisfactory.

All in all, the competitive aspect of the site which results in its low representative APR can be a major advantage. If you are comfortable with the idea of dealing with a lending service broker and want flexibility and versatility, it might be a reliable choice.

Try Our Recommended UK Payday Loan Provider 2020:

  • Get an Instant Quote
  • Apply within 2 Minutes
  • Friendly Support Service
  • FCA Regulated
*Subject to lender requirements and approval.

Glossary of loaning terms

Loans Glossary
Credit Score

A credit score shows your creditworthiness. It's primarily based on how much money you owe to loan or credit card companies, if you have ever missed payments or if you have ever defaulted on a loan.

Loans Glossary
Guaranteed Approval

Guaranteed Approval is when, no matter how bad, your credit score its, your loan application will not get declined.

Loans Glossary
Credit Limit

A Credit Limit is the highest amont of credit a lender will lend to the borrower.

Loans Glossary
Collateral

Collateral is when you put up an item against your loan such as your house or car. These can be repossessed if you miss payments.

Loans Glossary
Cash Advance

A Cash Advance is a short-term loan that has steep interest rates and fees.

Loans Glossary
Credit Rating

Your Credit Rating is how likely you are to fulfill your loan payments and how risky you are as a borrower.

Stocks Glossary
Fixed Interest Rate

Fixed Interest Rate is when the interest rate of your loan will not change over the period you are paying off you loan.

Stocks Glossary
Interest

The Interest is a percentage based on the amount of your loan that you pay back to the lender for using their money

Loans Glossary
Default

If you default on your loan it means you are unable to keep up with your payments and no longer pay back your loan.

Loans Glossary
Late Fee

If you miss a payment the lender will charge you for being late, this is known as a late fee.

Loans Glossary
Unsecured Personal Loan

An Unsecured Personal Loan is when you have a loan based solely on your creditworthliness without using collateral.

Loans Glossary
Secured Loan

A Secured Loan is when you put collateral such as your house or car up against the amount you're borrowing.

Loans Glossary
Prime Rate

This is the Interest Rate used by banks for borrowers with good credit scores.

Loans Glossary
Principal

The Principal amount the borrower owes the lender, not including any interest or fees.

Stocks Glossary
Variable Rate

A Variable Rate is when the interest rate of you loan will change with inflation. Sometimes this will lower your interest rate, but other times it will increase.

Loans Glossary
Installment Loan

An Installment Loan is a loan that is paid back bi-weekly or monthly over the period in which the loan is borrowed for.

Loans Glossary
Bridge Loan

A Bridge Loan is a short term loand that can last from 2 weeks up to 3 years dependant on lender.

Loans Glossary
AAA Credit

Having an AAA Credit Rating is the highest rating you can have.

Loans Glossary
Guarantor

A Guarantor co-signs on a loan stating the borrower is able to make the payments, but if they miss any or default the Guarantor will have to pay.

Stocks Glossary
LIBOR

LIBOR is the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate which is the benchmarker for the interest rates in London. It is an average of the estimates interest rates given by different banks based on what they feel would be the best interest rate for future loans.

Loans Glossary
Home Equity Loans

Home Equity Loans is where you borrow the equity from your property and pay it back with interest and fees over an agreed time period with the lender.

Loans Glossary
Debt Consolidation

Debt Consolidation is when you take out one loans to pay off all others. This leads to one monthly payment, usually with a lower interest rate.

Loans Glossary
Student Loan

If you obtain a Student Loan to pay your way through College then you loan is held with the Department for Education U.K.

Loans Glossary
Student Grants

Financial Aid in the form of grants is funding available to post-secondary education students throughout the United Kingdom and you are not required to pay grant

FAQ

What is soft credit matching on New Horizons?

What does no obligation quote mean?

Does New Horizons perform credit checks?

Can I apply for a loan on the platform if I have bad credit?

What is the maximum amount accessible for new applicants?

What countries are accepted for New Horizons loans?

What other store services does New Horizons offer?

 

UK Payday Loan Reviews- A-Z Directory

Nica

Nica

Nica specializes in financial technology and cryptocurrency. At her young age, she was already able to work with a Y Combinator-backed startup and another startup founded by Harvard graduates.

Latest News

News

Online Broker FBS Introduces Brand New IB Features

Uncategorized

Halifax Share Dealing Review

If you’re looking for a low-cost share dealing platform that makes it super easy to buy and sell stocks, ETFs, and funds, it might be worth considering Halifax. You don’t need to have a current account with the provider, and getting started takes just minutes. In this article, we review the ins and outs of...

Wooden buildings with glass balcons.
Uncategorized

UK Banks Approved Nearly 1 Million Mortgages in 2019, 7.4% More than a Year Ago

The United Kingdom’s high street banks approved close to a million mortgages in 2019. Data gathered by LearnBonds.com indicates that 982,286 mortgages were approved in 2019, an increase of 7.4% from 2018’s 909,597. The mortgage approval entails loans for home purchase, remortgaging and other loans. Compared to 2018, the number of mortgages approved for home...

Credit Card
Uncategorized

Credit Card Lending to UK Individuals Hit a Record £54.16 Billion Last Quarter

Uncategorized

5 Ways to Provide Your Family With a Budget Christmas Dinner