$12,000 Personal Loans
Find and compare from a range of diverse offers for $12,000 financing here with Savvy today.
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The features and benefits of a $12,000 personal loan
Compare rates and save
You can compare some of the lowest-interest loans available for your specific borrowing profile from a wide range of Australian lenders.
Repay over one year and up
You can pay your loan debt at your own speed, either cutting down on overall interest by selecting a shorter term or minimising your monthly spend with a longer one.
Choose your pay schedule
Pay either on a monthly, fortnightly or weekly schedule to give you the option to structure your contributions around your own income situation.
No upfront payment
You won’t be required to pay a deposit or any upfront fees as part of your loan, with 100% financing available for whatever purpose your need.
No early repayment fees
You don’t have to stick to the term that you set, either, with lenders on our panel who don’t charge for additional payments or early loan settlements.
No security requirements
You won't have to worry about supplying any assets like your car as security for your loan, as our lending partners offer unsecured financing.
Types of personal loan
Why compare personal loans through Savvy?
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Paperless applications
You won't need to worry about sifting through documents and visiting the post office, as they can all be submitted online.
Reputable lending partners
We've partnered with personal loan companies you can trust to ensure your comparison is a high-quality one.
How to compare $12,000 loans from different lenders
Interest rate
The interest rate on your personal loan will be the most substantial factor in determining its overall cost. As such, it’s important to search for the lowest rates that you can during the comparison process. Even the smallest difference in interest can save you a meaningful amount across your loan term. For instance, a $12,000 loan paid over three years at 7.5% p.a. is estimated to cost almost $200 less in interest alone than the same loan at 8.5%.
Avoidable fees
Similarly, fees can also end up setting you back a significant amount. This is important to consider, as many of these can be avoided by choosing lenders who don’t charge them. Ongoing monthly fees can range up to $10, which over a three-year term would cost you $360, but many lenders don’t charge a cent for this. The same goes for your establishment fee, which could be charged as a percentage of your loan amount or not at all.
How you can repay them
Affording yourself the flexibility to pay your loan as quickly as you like is a very important tactic when it comes to cutting down on its cost. For instance, contributing an extra $50 each month on a $12,000, three-year loan at 7.5% p.a. could save you almost $200 and shorten your loan by four months. As mentioned, many of our lenders are able to accommodate additional and early repayments without charging you for doing so.
Available loan terms
Not all lenders offer the same available terms when it comes to repaying your personal loan. As such, you should always compare different loans based on the terms offered. One-year terms aren’t always on the table, for example, which may be your preference as a way of minimising its cost. Seven-year terms won’t always be available to you, as these are generally reserved for borrowers with strong credit histories, so if this is you, you should also keep this in mind.
Accepted income
Finally, lenders differ when it comes to the income that they can accept. Fortunately, we work with a diverse range who can work with just about any type of income. If you work casually or derive income from Centrelink benefits, not all lenders will be able to approve you for a loan, but others will. For reference, casual workers will need to have earned a stable income from the same job for at least six months prior to applying, while Centrelink income is restricted to stable, non-conditional payments like age, disability and carer’s pensions.
How to apply for a personal loan
Compare your options with Savvy
Before choosing your loan, compare your options with Savvy and pick out the most affordable loan best-suited to your needs. Click through and start today.
Fill out your application form
You’ll have to fill out your lender’s quick online application form and supply all the required documents so they can assess you properly as a borrower.
Receive approval and sign your agreement
If they’re happy, they’ll approve your application and send you a contract to sign, after which your funds can be advanced directly into your account.
$12,000 loan queries answered
More about $12,000 personal loans explained
What factors can impact my personal loan interest rate?
Personal loan interest rates can be affected by several different variables across your application, so it’s worth knowing what these are before you apply so you can enter with a rough idea of what your rate may be. Because this serves as the most significant factor on your loan in most cases, you should do everything you can to reduce it wherever possible. Some of the main factors which can have an effect on your rate are:
Your credit history
Lenders will look to your credit file as the clearest indication of your record covering your debts over the past five years. This history includes the repayments of other loans and bills such as utilities, phone and internet to paint a picture of you and your reliability when it comes to paying everything on time and in full.
Your score will reflect how well you’ve been able to do this, with late payments and defaults on prior loans factors which can decrease your score. The better your score, the more trustworthy you’ll be seen to be by your lender and the lower your rate is likely to be as a result. Lenders also look for borrowers who have repaid similar loans recently, such as other personal loans, as this is a practical demonstration of their ability to repay a loan.
Your employment
Additionally, lenders want to be confident that you’ll be able to support your repayments across the course of your term without any issues. Part of this is ensuring you’re comfortable and secure enough in your job to not have to worry about your income stream running dry.
For instance, full-time and permanent part-time employees who have been in the same job for a long time stand the best chance of receiving a low rate, as lenders will consider them a safer prospect. Casual employees, particularly those who haven’t been working for a long time, and newly self-employed workers are likely to receive higher rates as a result. You may need to receive a letter from your employer to reaffirm the stability of your job and pass it on to your lender.
Your income
The same applies to your income itself. If you’re working full-time or part-time, your income is likely to be set in stone and unchanging from month to month, giving you the best shot at a lower interest rate. However, fluctuating income is something which can lead to unease in lenders when assessing applications. Part of the assessment when it comes to casual and self-employed workers is that their income is consistent for an extended period. For the former, this is usually a minimum of six months, while business owners may need to have been running their operation for as long as two years before qualifying for a loan, let alone with a low rate.
Your loan’s affordability
Finally, lenders will charge interest and fees based on how much of a risk you pose of defaulting. If they’re not 100% certain the terms you’ve applied for on your $12,0000 loan are entirely comfortable for you, they’ll either impose a higher rate to compensate for the increased risk or reject your application altogether.
Before applying, you should always have an idea of what you can comfortably manage when it comes to your loan repayments. With rough figures in mind, you stand a better chance of approval for a lower rate. You can use Savvy’s borrowing power calculator to help give you a rough estimate of what size loan is best for you so you can see whether you might be able to borrow more or less than $12,000.
How long can I take to repay my $12,000 loan?
While personal loans typically range from one to seven years, lenders will determine whether the term you propose for your finance deal is appropriate for the amount you’re borrowing. They’re unlikely to approve long-term loans of $6,000, for instance, as this would pose an unnecessarily high risk of default and wouldn’t yield a great deal of interest overall to compensate them for it.
Because of this, you’re unlikely to be approved for a seven-year term when borrowing an amount as little as $12,000 (although some lenders may be able to approve this in certain circumstances). Generally, the maximum advisable term for a $12,000 loan would be around five years if you’re looking to lock in more manageable repayments but not let the cost of the loan balloon out too much.
However, it’s important to note that you should always aim for as short a loan term as you feel comfortable repaying. The shorter your term, the less you’ll have to pay in interest and fees. This is because interest is calculated on your outstanding principal, so if it decreases at a slower rate, the interest you’ll have to pay will remain higher for longer. Always prioritise your comfort in repaying your loan above all else, though.
What can I use a personal loan for?
Personal loans are designed to be highly flexible and able to be used for just about any purpose you might need. This sets them apart from other types of finance in a meaningful way: where home loan funds can only be used to purchase property and its associated costs, with the equivalent being true for car loans, personal finance can essentially be distributed however you like. Because of this, there are many common uses for personal loans which Australian borrowers look to every month. These include:
- Funding home renovations, improvements or any other expansion around your property or your investment
- Helping ease the burden of unexpected medical fees, which can set you back thousands
- Covering the cost of your children’s education
- Consolidating existing debts, such as other outstanding personal loan or credit card debts
- Paying for your dream wedding or a fitting funeral for a loved one
- Helping you pay for your next holiday, whether it’s an expansive trip around the globe or simply a trip interstate or up the coast
Helpful personal loan guides
Still looking for the right personal loan?
Personal loans come in all shapes and sizes, so read more about the ways you can use them, as well as how they might work for you.
