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“One of the best...”

written by on 28/07/2014

If you've never used a "short-term" loan company or "payday loan" company i recommend you think about it properly before you accept the T&C's and ask yourself "Do i really need this money? Could i just borrow it from family or a friend instead?. It can get out of hand very quickly if you borrow a little bit more than you actually need or can repay, or if you miss a payment. - Looking back at the past 4 years of my life, i have one regret and thats taking out my first "Payday" loan.

If your 100% sure you need a payday loan and are going to apply for one i suggest you read up on the reviews, the T&C's first. There are some great loan companies that actually do what they say, are clear and transparent and don't have lots of hidden costs like transfer fees etc. But for every one of those companies - there are 10 terrible, irresponsible, illegal sharks that will hunt you down, threaten you and take you for every penny you have.

Now thats over, lets review Lending Stream!

I first came across Lending Stream during an ad break on TV. They had their TV advert, i was looking for a loan and i applied. I was actually quite surprised that Lending Stream had accepted me right away. The great thing about Lending Stream is that the term is longer (usually 6 - 12 months) than payday loans which give you very little with a big lending fee, a charge to transfer the money your borrowing into your account the same day.

From start to finish the process of applying and having the funds in my account was very fast. They make everything easy to understand, you choose the dates you want to make your repayments and they don't bombard you with spam emails, texts and cold calls constantly.

My repayments were scheduled to be taken from my account on my pay day from work every month for the duration of the loan. The repayments ran smoothly, i did have 1 problem where my pay was delayed going into my bank from work and when Lending Stream tried to take the repayment it wasn't there. I received an email to let me know there had been a problem and that they would give me until the end of the day to make my payment otherwise id incur a £12 late payment fee. - My pay did go into my bank in the afternoon and i simply called to let them know it was there for them to take. Very simple... And the best bit was there was no late payment fee (lots of other lenders tend to add the fee for *every time* they try to take the money from your account!).

The only reason why i haven't gave a 5* rating is due to the fact that there seems to be an ongoing technical problem on the website. If you wish to make a repayment early by logging into your account and clicking the repay button it constantly says that theres been an error with the site, they are working on it and give you a number to call CS whilst they work on the problem. Now i know this isn't a big deal but when it's not convenient to call or the call centre is closed this could become a problem. - Also the call centre seems to be based in India, or at least every time i've had to call to make an early repayment the employee has had an indian accent. Again not a huge problem but it's so much easier to speak to someone who is fluent in English and understands what you're saying. - Thats just my preference, i know most call centres are based out in India now but for those 2 reasons they lost the 5th star from me.

Lending Stream are a great little company who can help solve a financial problem that you may have, quickly without extorting you. I've not had any trouble at all with Lending Stream, I'd use them again if need be and i'd highly recommend them over the sharks that run most "payday loans".