What a difference a month makes, when a personal loan this month will cost a borrower an average 7.85 per cent more than it did this time last month, with some lenders upping their interest rates by as much as nine per cent.

Research from uSwitch.com has found that not only are personal loans becoming more expensive, but they are also becoming scarcer, with just 52 loan deals now available, falling from 56 in the same time period.

“As the news agenda overflows with the global financial meltdown, a plethora of loan rate increases have been implemented in the past four weeks. Lenders have increased unsecured personal loans by as much as 9% APR making borrowing even more costly for consumers.” explained Louise Bond, personal finance manager at uSwitch.com.

She continues to say that loan rates and ‘best buy’ tables are changing on a daily basis, illustrating how unpredictable the market is at the moment, with some of the biggest lenders dropping off the tables, whereas before they were topping the loan charts.

Ms Bond added that “In the summer months we kissed goodbye to sub-7% APR loans when the remaining six providers dropped out of this bracket but the sub-8% offering is still prominent.” There are still some competitive deals available, she said, and encourages borrowers to compare loans to find the best deals.

© Fair Investment Company Ltd