A guide to consolidating your debts
Estimated read time: 3 Minutes
Looking to combine your debts into one manageable monthly payment? Debt consolidation with a personal loan could be an option. But there’s some important information that you should consider before applying.
What is debt consolidation?
Debt consolidation refers to taking out a loan to pay out all your existing debts. Combining all your current debts into one, easier to manage loan with a single monthly payment could help if you’re having difficulty juggling payments on multiple loans or credit cards. Here are some tips to help you make an informed decision when choosing whether to consolidate your debt or not.
The potential benefits of debt consolidation
Paying once, instead of multiple times a month
Taking out a personal loan to pay out your credit cards as well as any interest you owe means you'll only have one repayment to make every week, fortnight or month, over a fixed amount of time. Managing your debt thus becomes easier.
Obtaining fixed rates and terms
A fixed rate and term in a personal loan can help keep you disciplined in paying off debt quicker. But it’s important not to commit to a payment schedule that you can’t meet, or you’ll risk hurting your credit score.
Lowering your monthly payments
Stretching the term on your personal loan means that you could be spending less towards paying off your monthly repayment amount, but you will end up paying more overall. So consider this before extending your loan term.
The possible drawbacks of debt consolidation
Spending more overall
A personal loan with a longer term can help you reduce your monthly repayments, however, the longer loan term loan could mean that you’ll pay more interest and cost more overall.
You could damage your credit score
If you shop around and gain multiple enquiries on your credit report, then it could reduce your credit score.
Likewise, if you don’t keep up with the monthly repayments on your personal loan, you could end up hurting your credit score or even find yourself in financial hardship.
What to do before applying for a personal loan to consolidate your debt?
Explore your options
Understand your finances
Know your credit rating and serviceability
Be proactive and take control of your debt
Important questions to ask before consolidating your debt
Does consolidating your debt ruin your credit?
While consolidating debt does not 'ruin' your credit, if you’re taking out a new credit facility, your chosen lender will undertake a credit check, which will be recorded on your credit file. If you have recently applied for multiple lines of credit, then these all do add up on your credit file and may result in your score being lowered.
Can I consolidate debts with bad credit?
It’s possible that you may still be able to consolidate your debts if you have a lower-than-average credit score, however lenders may apply a higher interest rate based on your credit score and historical ability to meet your repayments.
Looking to consolidate your debts? We’re here to help
To get you started, find out how much your repayments might be on a Pepper Money personal loan using this handy calculator, or get your individual rate* before applying in just a few minutes (it won't affect your credit score).
Contributor | Vasè Marcevska, Head of Direct Sales – Mortgages and Personal Loans
Vasè has over 16 years of experience in the Banking and Finance sector, specifically within the Third Party and Consumer lending industry. Her expertise now focuses on enhancing our Customer program through a deep understanding of mortgage origination and service excellence across our Financial products.
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