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A staggering 16 million people, over a third of the UK adult population, are unaware that the majority of personal loan providers levy penalties on borrowers who repay their debt early, according to new research from Intelligent Finance (IF), an online bank.
With interest rates at historically low levels an increasing number of people are being lured by the attractive loan rates currently available. You can borrow £5,000 for as little as 6.3%. But many of those lucky enough to be in a position to repay their debt early are being charged for doing so. IF estimates that this is costing consumers about £336m a year.

Nearly 75% of personal loans charge early redemption penalties yet many providers are guilty of burying this fact in the small print of the terms and conditions. IF, which does not penalise you for repaying a loan early, is calling for those that do to make their charges more transparent.