Personal loans for self employed Background

Self Employed Personal Loans

Are you self-employed and looking for a personal loan? The table below shows a range of personal loans from our Online Partners available for those who are self-employed.

Group Manager, Research & Ratings
Former Senior Finance Journalist
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Features and fees Glossary
  • icon Additional repayments
  • icon Redraw facility
  • icon Top-up facility
  • icon Application fee: $0 up to $600
  • icon Annualised fee: $0
  • icon Loan terms available: 3 years to 7 years
star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon
7.24% Glossary
up to 9.39% Glossary
Fixed Glossary
7.24% Glossary
up to 11.49% Glossary
$398.29 Glossary
up to $418.96 Glossary
Features and fees Glossary
  • icon Additional repayments
  • icon Redraw facility
  • icon Top-up facility
  • icon Application fee: $300 up to $1200
  • icon Annualised fee: $0
  • icon Loan terms available: 1 year to 7 years
star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon
6.57% Glossary
up to 9.29% Glossary
Fixed Glossary
7.59% Glossary
up to 10.33% Glossary
$391.98 Glossary
up to $417.99 Glossary
Features and fees Glossary
  • icon Additional repayments
  • icon Redraw facility
  • icon Top-up facility
  • icon Application fee: $300 up to $1200
  • icon Annualised fee: $0
  • icon Loan terms available: 1 year to 10 years
star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon
6.57% Glossary
up to 9.29% Glossary
Fixed Glossary
8.28% Glossary
up to 11.03% Glossary
$391.98 Glossary
up to $417.99 Glossary
Features and fees Glossary
  • icon Additional repayments
  • icon Redraw facility
  • icon Top-up facility
  • icon Application fee: $300 up to $1200
  • icon Annualised fee: $0
  • icon Loan terms available: 1 year to 7 years
star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon
6.57% Glossary
up to 9.29% Glossary
Fixed Glossary
8.28% Glossary
up to 11.03% Glossary
$391.98 Glossary
up to $417.99 Glossary
Features and fees Glossary
  • icon Additional repayments
  • icon Redraw facility
  • icon Top-up facility
  • icon Application fee: $175
  • icon Annualised fee: $60
  • icon Loan terms available: 0 to 7 years
star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon
11.49% Glossary
Variable Glossary
13.77% Glossary
$439.75 Glossary
Features and fees Glossary
  • icon Additional repayments
  • icon Redraw facility
  • icon Top-up facility
  • icon Application fee: $575
  • icon Annualised fee: $0
  • icon Loan terms available: 3 years to 7 years
star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon star-rating-icon
5.76% Glossary
up to 24.03% Glossary
Fixed Glossary
9.78% Glossary
up to 28.52% Glossary
$384.43 Glossary
up to $575.71 Glossary

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Unsure of a term in the above table? View glossary

The initial results in the table above are sorted by Star Rating (High-Low) , then Comparison rate^ (Low-High) , then Provider Name (Alphabetical) . Additional filters may have been applied, see top of table for details.

About personal loans for self-employed people

If you’re self-employed you can still apply for a personal loan but you may have a few extra hurdles to jump to prove your earnings. Potential lenders will want to know you earn enough to be able to repay the loan.

A person who works for an employer can simply show their regular payslips to prove their earnings, but if you’re self-employed, having the right paperwork can be a challenge.

There is a special type of loan you may be able to apply for if getting your hands on enough documentation proves difficult.

More than two million people are self-employed in Australia, according to the labour force figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That’s a large group of people, but not all lenders offer loans to the self-employed.

So what do you need to know if you’re self-employed and want to apply for a personal loan?

Frequently Asked Questions about personal loans for self-employed people

A personal loan for self-employed people is the same as any personal loan. It’s an amount of money you can borrow to help pay for something such as a wedding, home renovations, to consolidate some debt or a holiday.

The loan amount, plus any interest and fees, must be paid back over a certain period of time (known as the loan term). This typically ranges from one to seven years.

Personal loans can also be either unsecured or secured against an asset.

Not all lenders will offer loans to self-employed people so you might need to shop around. For example, ING says personal loans are not available to self-employed applicants.

If a lender does allow self-employed people to apply, then you can usually follow the same process as anyone else would to apply for a personal loan.

As part of the application process, a potential lender will usually ask for details of your self-employed status and earnings. What details they require may vary among lenders so you will need to check with each you’re considering to see what they count as a record of your earnings.

For example, the Commonwealth Bank says it will only consider your self-employed income if you’ve been running a business for at least 12 months. It will then need to see your latest tax return or a notice of assessment from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). If neither’s available then your accountant may be able to help show your taxable income.

Westpac says it wants to see the last two years of personal tax returns, as well as your latest ATO notice of assessment.

That’s why it might be a good idea to submit a tax return each year, even if you don’t need to according to the ATO’s criteria, just to make sure you have the relevant paperwork.

Other potential lenders may have different eligibility requirements regarding your proof of earnings so you’d need to check with each to see what they need.

You may be asked to supply a range of documents to show what earnings and expenses you have, such as any mortgage or other loan repayments, income from any other assets you may have such as any savings, term deposits, shares and so on.

ANZ says it wants to see details of your business income and expenditure, such as your profit and loss statement and balance sheet that’s no older than 22.5 months.

NAB says you should make sure all your documents show your full name and your Australian Business Number (ABN).

The executive director of not-for-profit support group Self-Employed Australia, Ken Phillips, told Canstar it was important for all self-employed people to keep good business records to show potential lenders.

“If you can’t keep up with your paperwork you’re not in control of your business,” he said.

“You should be able to walk into a bank and when they start asking questions (about your finances) you can say you know what’s going on.”

Check with your potential lender to see what other documents they may require and how they should be verified and submitted along with your personal loan application.

If you’re self-employed and worried you don’t have enough paperwork for a potential lender to see, you might consider applying for a low documentation or ‘low doc’ personal loan.

A low doc personal loan usually requires you to produce less documentation than would typically be required to take out a standard personal loan.

They exist for people who earn an income and wish to take out a personal loan but who may not be able to provide employment-related documentation such as Pay As You Go payslips or group certificates. Hence, they’re maybe suitable for someone who’s self-employed.

Not all major banks and financial institutions offer low doc personal loans, so you might have to shop around to find one that suits your needs.

You can use Canstar’s table, above, to compare personal loans for people who are self-employed.

You can order the results by interest rate, the comparison rate (which takes into account any fees), or by the monthly repayments. You can further filter your results, such as by provider, or by Canstar’s star rating.

About the authors

Michael Lund, Former Senior Finance Journalist

Michael Lund
Michael is an award-winning journalist with more than three decades of experience reporting on a range of subjects, including general news, lifestyle, local government, science and technology. As a senior finance journalist at Canstar, Michael has written more than 100 articles covering superannuation, savings, wealth, life insurance, home loans and more. His work has been referenced by a number of other finance publications, including Yahoo Finance and The Motley Fool. Michael started in the UK working for a number of local and evening newspapers, including as a local government reporter. He then moved to the BBC and worked in radio before taking up the position of bi-media local government correspondent for the West of England, based in Bristol. In 1998 Michael moved to Australia and worked for Queensland’s The Sunday Mail before joining the ABC in Brisbane. There, he worked as a reporter and producer in a number of areas in radio and television, including for ABC TV’s popular Australian Story. After a stint as a tutor and lecturer in journalism at Queensland University of Technology, Michael returned to News Corp as a feature writer for The Courier-Mail. An interest in online journalism saw Michael join The Conversation first as a science and technology editor and later as a commissioning editor, working across all areas of coverage including with The Conversation’s New Zealand team. Michael has been lucky enough to win a few awards for his work, including a Queensland Media Award and a highly commended in the Walkleys. In 2021 he was part of a team that was a finalist in the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Science Journalism. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and applied physics (Manchester Metropolitan University) and a Masters of Science in pure mathematics (Liverpool University). You can connect with Michael on LinkedIn. View Michael’s articles.

Joshua Sale, Group Manager, Research & Ratings

Joshua Sale
Joshua Sale is responsible for developing the methodology and delivering Canstar’s flagship Star Ratings, as part of Canstar’s Research Team. With tertiary qualifications in economics and finance, he enjoys helping Australians find more suitable financial products by transforming complex calculations into a consumer-friendly Star Rating that explains the values and benefits of different financial products. As one of Canstar’s company spokespeople, Joshua is confident participating in print, radio and broadcast journalism interviews. He has participated in interviews with the Australian Financial Review, news.com.au and Money Magazine, along with other leading media outlets, discussing topics such as home loan equity, banking incentive schemes, digital wallets and wider finance trends. You can follow Joshua on LinkedIn. Have a media enquiry, and interested in featuring Joshua as a financial expert and commentator? Contact Canstar’s Media Team today.

 


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For those that love the detail

This advice is general and has not taken into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider whether this advice is right for you.

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The Personal Loan Star Ratings are updated daily. The results don’t include every provider in the market and we may not compare all features relevant to you. Current rates and fees are displayed and may be different to what was rated. You can find a description of the initial sort order below the table. You can use the sort buttons at the top of each column to re-order the display. Learn more about our Personal Loans Star Rating Methodology. The rating shown is only one factor to take into account when considering products.

The products and Star Ratings in the table might not match your exact inputs in the selector. Sometimes the methodology uses profiles with categories or bands (e.g. income, loan amount or monthly spend), but sometimes a single methodology, without any categories or bands, is applied. The results will show the products that most closely match your selection, based on our profiles. If you are unsure about any terms used in the comparison table please refer to the glossary.

What is a Target Market Determination?

A Target Market Determination (‘TMD’) is a document that explains which people particular financial products may be suitable for (the target market) and sets out any conditions around how financial products can be distributed to consumers.

Why do product issuers provide Target Market Determinations?

From 5 October 2021, TMDs are compulsory for most financial products.

Issuers and distributors of financial products must take reasonable steps that are likely to result in financial products reaching consumers in the target market defined by the product issuer.

We recommend that you consider the TMD before making a purchase decision. Contact the product issuer directly for a copy of the TMD.

Any advice on this page is general and has not taken into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider whether this general financial advice is right for your personal circumstances. Canstar provides information about credit products. We’re not suggesting or recommending a particular credit product for you. If you decide to apply for a loan, you will deal directly with the provider, not with Canstar. Consider the Target Market Determination (TMD) before making a purchase decision. Contact the product issuer directly for a copy of the TMD. It’s important you check rates and product information directly with the provider. For more information, read our Detailed Disclosure. ^Read the Comparison Rate Warning.

Representative example total repayment amount: For a personal loan of $20,000 borrowed for 60 months with a minimum interest rate of 9.84% (comparison rate^ of 10.87%), the total amount you would need to repay would be $25,551. This is made up of a $20,000 principal amount, $5,402 interest amount, estimated upfront fees of $149 and total ongoing fees of $0. This example is hypothetical. The total loan repayment amount for any individual personal loan will vary depending on several factors (including making on time repayments). You should confirm with the lender the total amount repayable for your particular circumstances.