Debt Consolidation Loans

Juggling a credit card, a personal loan, a car loan and a couple of buy now pay later arrangements is exhausting, and the mental load is often worse than the money. Consolidating replaces that with one lender, one repayment and one end date, which for a lot of people is the difference between managing their debt and being managed by it.

What can be consolidated. Credit and store cards, existing personal loans, buy now pay later arrangements, overdrafts and other revolving facilities, and personal tax debt. Car loans sometimes, though a secured car loan is often already the cheapest debt you have and moving it is not always sensible. If the tax debt is a business one, the deductibility of ATO interest changed in 2025 and it affects the maths: see ATO payment plan or business loan.

Secured or unsecured, and why it matters more here. An unsecured consolidation loan has no asset behind it and is priced for that risk. A secured loan, backed by a vehicle or another asset, is generally priced lower, but understand what you are doing: you are moving unsecured debt onto an asset. A credit card debt cannot cost you your car; once it is secured against the car, it can. That is not a reason to avoid it, it is a reason to decide it deliberately. Our guide to secured loans explains how security works, and our personal loans page covers both structures.

The honest part, which most pages skip. Consolidating does not reduce what you owe. It changes who you owe it to and on what terms. Your repayment usually falls, and often that is because the term is longer rather than the rate being lower, which means paying more in total even though each repayment is smaller. That can be entirely the right trade when the immediate problem is cash flow, but it should be a decision rather than a saving you think you are getting. Ask for the total cost over the full term and compare it against carrying on as you are, and compare offers on the comparison rate rather than the headline rate. Our guide to whether consolidating actually helps sets out when it does and when it does not.

When it does not help, we will say so. If the cards get used again afterwards, you end up with the consolidation loan and the card balances both, which is the most common way this goes wrong. And if the repayments would not fit even after consolidating, another loan is not the answer: speak to your existing lenders about hardship arrangements, which they are required to consider, or call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007, which is free, independent and confidential. We would rather tell you that than write a loan that does not help.

Your credit file matters throughout. Every application is recorded whether it is approved or not, so applying to several lenders to see who says yes damages the thing you are trying to repair. Being matched to one lender that writes your profile, then applying once, is how you protect it.

1. List what you actually owe. Every balance, the repayment, and roughly what each one costs you. Card limits count whether they are drawn or not, and so do buy now pay later arrangements.

2. We work out whether consolidating helps. Total cost over the full term against carrying on as you are. If the numbers do not support it, we will tell you at this point rather than after an application.

3. We settle the structure. Secured or unsecured, and the term. Shorter costs less overall; longer lowers the repayment. Which one suits depends on whether your problem is cost or cash flow.

4. We match it to a lender. From more than 40, the one whose criteria fit your situation and credit history. One application, not five.

5. Approval. We tell you what is outstanding rather than leaving you guessing, and what the lender will want before settlement.

6. Documents. Contracts issued for electronic signing, with the security registered where the loan is secured against an asset.

7. Settlement, and the important bit afterwards. The debts are paid out directly and you are left with one repayment. Closing the cards you have just cleared is what stops this happening again, and some lenders require it as a condition.