Feeling a little lost?

We know fees aren't popular, but the origination fee helps us cover our costs.

There's more to it than you might expect: from setting up your loan to keeping your payments ticking over month by month.

The origination fee is rolled into your APR (Annual Percentage Rate) along with your fixed annual interest. It's not an extra charge.

Please keep in mind: if you cancel your loan after the 14-day cancellation period, or repay your loan early, the fee is non-refundable.

Facts about fees

Some loan providers charge an origination fee and some charge early repayment fees. Some charge both, or neither.

Sounds complicated? It is. That's why all loan providers have to give an APR, which helps you directly compare the value offered by different loan providers. It tells you what your loan costs overall (as long as you pay back over the planned term).

A loan's APR takes into account any upfront fees, plus the fixed interest (charged yearly).

We know fees aren't popular, but the origination fee helps us cover our costs.

There's more to it than you might expect: from setting up your loan to keeping your payments ticking over month by month.

Applying for a Zopa loan is a simple online process.

There's no paperwork to send through the post. We've built a secure system that carries out thorough checks and handles every stage of your application online, and we use bank-level encryption throughout the site.

How to apply in 3 simple steps:

1. Choose how much to borrow and for how long.

We offer personal loans from £1,000 to £25,000 over 1 to 5 years.

2. See your personalised rates in 3 minutes.

Just fill in our simple form to tell us a few details about you and your circumstances. Don't worry, this won't affect your credit score.

3. Apply online and get a decision within 2 working days.

We may need you to provide proof of your identity, income or bank account. It's simple to do this online.

If approved, the money could be with you in as little as 5 working days. Sometimes this process does take a little longer. This is because Zopa works by directly matching investors with people looking for a loan, we only match people who meet our careful lending criteria.

We believe money should be simple and fair.

Here's why customers choose Zopa:

• Our rates are often lower than high-street banks
• Checking your rates won't affect your credit score
• We approve over £2 million every day to people with a good credit history
• Simple online application – no paperwork through the post
• No early repayment fees, no hidden charges
• Multi-award-winning Customer Service team based in London

Thank you for having a look at Zopa.

As a responsible lender, we take several things into account to help us decide if we can offer you a loan. Here are the main criteria.

You'll need to…

• tell us who you are
• be at least 20 years old
• be a UK resident with at least 3 years of address history
• be employed, self-employed or retired with a pension
• have an income of at least £12,000 per year (before tax)
• have a credit history that we can see, and a good track record of repaying debt, e.g. utility bills, credit cards
• be able to afford the loan (in relation to your income and outgoings)

It takes just 3 minutes to find out if you're eligible and see your personalised rates. Don't worry, this won't affect your credit score.

Please keep in mind, we can't offer joint applications or guarantor loans.

We offer personal loans from £1,000 to £25,000 over 1 to 5 years.

Here are some of the most popular ways our customers use a Zopa loan:

• Buy a car
• Pay off credit cards
• Consolidate a more expensive loan
• Make home improvements
• Spread the cost of a wedding
• And much more

We'll ask you what you plan to use the loan for when you apply. If you don't see your loan purpose listed, please choose 'other'.

What can't I use a Zopa loan for?

There are some types of loan we don't offer at the moment.

These include: business loans for companies (other than sole-traders), mortgages, loans for bad credit, joint applications, guarantor loans, bridging finance.

We offer personal loans from £1,000 to £25,000 over 1 to 5 years.

Just choose your loan amount and term and fill in our short form to find out your personalised rate. This takes about 3 minutes and won't affect your credit score. If your loan is approved, it's exactly the rate you'll get.

No early repayment fees

Think you might want to repay your loan early? No problem – we don't charge a penalty fee.

You're also welcome to make extra repayments towards your loan, which will reduce your ongoing monthly repayment amount. The term of your loan will stay the same.

It takes just 3 minutes to find out your personalised loan rates with Zopa. Even better, your personalised rate for a specific amount and term is fixed. If you choose to apply and your loan is approved, it's exactly the rate you'll get.

Here's how it works

1. You enter a few details (name, date of birth, address, employment).
2. We do a soft credit search, which doesn't show up on your credit file to other lenders. It's only visible to you and the credit reference agencies and will not affect your credit score.
3. We use the information to calculate your personalised rates for a range of loans. These rates will not change if you choose to apply for the loan.

Not sure whether to go ahead? You have some time to think about it if you like. We save your rates for 7 days.

After 7 days the rates will expire, but you're welcome to start again. (We need to do another soft credit search to make sure we calculate rates for your up-to-date credit situation. Lots of things can influence this, including credit searches by other lenders, progress or problems in your payment history, how much credit you've used from your available limits, and changes to your address.)

From time to time, as a business, we may change our lending criteria. This means our advertised rates may change, but don't worry, we'll never change the rate on an active loan.

A soft credit search gives lenders a window into your debt history. It's invisible to other lenders (so it won't hurt your credit score) but you'll be able to see it in your credit file.

When we calculate your personalised rates for a Zopa loan, we use a soft credit search.

There's also such thing as a "hard credit search". It's similar to a soft credit search, but it shows up to other lenders (and can affect your credit score).

We only do a hard credit search when you apply for the loan.

Both types of search take place with the help of a credit reference agency.

In the market for a loan? Be sure to check which kind of search a lender does and when.

Credit reference agencies, also known as credit bureaus, securely collect, store and maintain information about your credit history.

They give loan providers access to your credit file (though never without your permission) to help them make a decision when you apply for a loan.

When you check your personalised rates with Zopa, you agree to let us to carry out a soft credit search with the credit reference agencies we work with. This doesn't affect your credit score.

How to access your credit report

Credit reference agencies have to share your credit report with you if you request it.

Some companies charge a fee, some are free, and some offer you a free trial period (remember to cancel your subscription if you don't want to be charged).

CheckMyFile is a multi-agency credit report service with a free trial.

In the Zopa mobile app! It's available on iPhone and Android. You can find out your credit score (provided by Noddle) as well as manage an active loan, if you have one. All for free.

You can also check your credit score with several other providers. Some are free, some offer a free trial period, some are paid-for. A web search will show you the lay of the land.

Keep in mind, credit scores in the UK are not standardised. Different providers calculate your score in different ways, and your score may be different for each one. But on the upside - they all follow similar principles.

So you've already got your confirmed rates for a Zopa loan (without affecting your credit score) and you're ready to apply.

What happens next depends on your personal circumstances and how much information is available in your credit file.

We may be able to give you an instant decision, or we may need to carry out some extra checks.

Either: instant decision

As long as we have all the information we need, we can give you an instant decision when you apply online.

Or: extra checks

If there are any gaps in the information that we can access through a full credit search when you apply, we may need you to confirm a few things (ID, income and/or bank details) by uploading documents. It's simple to do this online and takes around 10 minutes.

Once we've got these documents, we may then be able to give you an instant online decision.

If not, we'll review your application manually, which takes around 2 working days. We will let you know the outcome by email.

And then: money transfer

If your loan is approved, we'll automatically send the money to your bank account. This usually happens within 5 working days but can sometimes take longer. This is because Zopa works by directly matching investors with people looking for a loan, we only match people who meet our careful lending criteria.

From start to finish, the process usually takes no more than 5 working days for you to receive the money. Because Zopa works by directly matching investors with people looking for a loan, careful matching against our lending criteria it sometimes takes a little longer.

Here's the breakdown

1. Check your personalised loan rates (3 mins) and apply (up to 30 mins).
2. If we can't instantly approve your loan, our underwriting team will review your application (up to 2 working days).
3. Once approved, we send the money to your chosen bank account. This is usually just 5 working days but can sometimes takes a little longer.

No, you'll zip through the process online from start to finish. It's one of the things customers like most about a Zopa loan.

There's no paperwork to send or receive through the post. We may need you to confirm some details with a document, but you can upload it online from your Zopa account. (Your personal info is secure, we use bank-level encryption throughout our site.)

Fan of human help? We have physical office in London with an award-winning team, so we're here for you over phone and email if you need a hand.

Comparing loan providers? Some may let you start online, but you'll need to finish your application by post. If you'd rather steer clear of unnecessary paperwork and aren't sure about the process, do check with them.

Yes, sometimes. When you apply for a loan, we do an affordability check which looks at several different types of income. We may accept Airbnb earnings - it depends on your circumstances.

When do you consider Airbnb earnings?

We consider Airbnb earnings as long as we can identify at least 3 payments.

Your Airbnb earnings need to be substantial (e.g. consistently more than several hundred pounds a month).

For marginal applications, we may consider lower levels of regular Airbnb earnings alongside other types of income to help us make a decision.

Specifying the amount

To include your Airbnb earnings in your application, simply enter the yearly figure in the 'additional income' field in the application form.

Providing evidence

You'll need to provide evidence of these payments. This means uploading one or more bank statements or PayPal statements showing at least 3 Airbnb payments.

New-ish to Airbnb?

If you've been hosting on Airbnb for less than a year, enter the amount you've earned so far. (Please don't estimate a full year's income.)

What about other types of rental earnings?

We can't accept direct rental earnings as a type of income at the moment. That's because these transactions are paid direct by bank transfer and are difficult to verify, whereas all Airbnb transactions have a payment reference that marks them out as Airbnb - so they're easy to spot on a bank statement.

Unfortunately we can't accept direct rental earnings as a type of income at the moment. That's because these transactions are paid direct by bank transfer and are difficult to verify.

However, we do accept Airbnb earnings.

Rental transactions that are processed through Airbnb have a payment reference that marks them out as Airbnb – so they're easy to identify on a bank statement.

Good question, we know this can come as a bit of surprise.

We calculate your personalised rate based on your individual circumstances. A lot of thought goes into this, but some of the main things are: your incomings, your outgoings, your existing level of debt, and your credit history.

So until you tell us a few details about yourself, we can't confirm your rate.

To give people a rough idea upfront, we tell you our representative rates (at least 51 out of 100 customers get those rates or better) and our lowest rates. You'll often find that this is the case among loan providers who don't already have all your details.

Now for the good news! Your personalised rate is fixed for 7 days. If you choose to apply, it's exactly the rate you'll get if we can approve your loan.

Yes, we welcome loan applications from people on disability benefits. We review them on an individual basis.

Our team will need to feel confident you can afford the loan. They may ask to see documents to support this.

If you like, you can get in touch with us we'll guide you through the application. We're here to help on 020 7580 6060 Monday to Thursday (8am to 8pm) and Friday (8am to 5pm) or you can email loans@zopa.com.

You'll need to use a personal current account, and you need to be named person on that account. If your loan is approved, that's where we'll send the loan money. We'll also use this account to take your monthly payments by Direct Debit.

We can't accept business accounts or savings accounts for a Zopa loan application – sorry about that.

We know this can be a concern for many people.

The good news is that in most cases, if we can't offer you a loan, we will tell you at the "get your personalised rates" stage. At this point you've only had a soft credit search (which doesn't affect your credit score) and it's only taken 3 minutes of your time to find out.

Of the people we can offer personalised rates, who then decide to apply (which involves a full credit search), we approve 9 in 10 loans. We're working hard to improve that number.

Please keep in mind, if we can't offer you a loan at either of these stages, you would need to wait 6 months before you can reapply with Zopa.

So you've got your confirmed rates for a Zopa loan (without affecting your credit score) and you're ready to apply online.

What happens next depends on 2 things: the details you've provided, and how much information is available in your credit file.

We may be able to give you an instant decision, or we may need to carry out some extra checks.

Either: instant decision

As long as we have all the information we need, we can give you an instant decision on your loan.

Or: extra checks

If there are any gaps in the information that we can access through a full credit search when you apply, we may need you to confirm one or more details (identity, income, bank details). You can do this online – it generally takes around 10 minutes.

Once that's done, we may then be able to give you an instant online decision.

If not, we'll review your application manually, which takes 2–3 working days. We will let you know the outcome by email.

And then: money transfer

If your loan is approved, we'll automatically send the money to your bank account. Usually this takes just 5 working days but can sometimes take longer.

This is because Zopa works by directly matching investors with people looking for a loan, we only match people who meet our careful lending criteria.

If your loan is approved, we'll arrange a transfer to your chosen bank account straight away. Usually this takes about 5 working days, but sometimes it can take a little longer.

This is because Zopa works by directly matching investors with people looking for a loan, we only match people who meet our careful lending criteria.

Change of heart? No problem. You can cancel your application before we give you a decision on your loan - and up to 14 days afterwards, if your loan is approved.

How to cancel before we've given you a decision:

If you haven't submitted your application yet, you can cancel your loan online from your Zopa account. You won't have to pay any fees or interest.

If your application is 'in review', you'll need to call us to cancel it on 020 7580 6060 (Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 5pm). You won't have to pay any fees or interest.

How to cancel after we've given you a decision:

You have a window of 14 days after your loan was approved to let us know if you'd like to cancel. There are two ways to do this:

• Call us on 020 7580 6060 (Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 5pm)
• Or send us a message from our contact form

This next bit is important:

If the money has already been transferred to your bank account you'll need to repay it within 30 days from the date you told us you want to cancel. You won't have to pay the origination fee and we won't charge you any interest.

If you don't repay the loan within 30 days after notifying us that you want to cancel you will be deemed to have accepted the loan. This means our normal terms and conditions will apply. So if you decide to repay early you'll have to pay back the full loan amount including any interest and the origination fee.

Please remember: if you chose Fast Track the fee of £10 is non-refundable.

For full details of our cancellation policy see section 12 in our Loan Conditions.

We can tell you some of the main reasons why we decline a loan application, but we can't tell you exactly why we couldn't approve your loan.

This is a security measure which helps keep Zopa and our customers safe.

We understand that it can feel frustrating, so please have a look at the list below, and you might see one or more which could relate to you.

• Your existing level of unsecured debt (if it's high, we may say no)
• The amount of information in your credit file (if there's not much to see, we may say no)
• The affordability of the loan in your financial circumstances (if you have limited disposable income, we may say no)
• Evidence that you've paid off credit on time in the past (if there's little evidence, we may say no)
• Your credit score, as reported by TransUnion and Equifax (if it's low, we may say no)
• Whether you've applied for a Zopa loan in the past 6 months (if you've done that, we will always say no)

It's not the end of the road. You're welcome to reapply for a Zopa loan after 6 months. Please keep in mind, you won't be able to apply if you try again sooner than this.

Struggling with debt?

If you'd like to get free and impartial advice, the team of experts at debt charity StepChange are here to help. Call them free on 0800 138 1111.

We need to see evidence of your income for the past 3 months. This might seem a bit nosey, but self-employed people often have jumpy earnings, and we need to be sure you can afford the loan.

You can upload your last 3 months of bank statements through the online dashboard. Just follow the instructions when we prompt you. Please remember to upload all pages, not just the front page, so we can see your income.

Yes you can. The day is automatically set to 30 days after your loan is approved, but you're welcome to pick a more convenient one.

To change your repayment day, please sign into your Zopa account, open up the relevant loan, and follow the steps on screen.

Things to keep in mind

• You'll always need to pick a date that's at least 3 days in the future.
• We aim to offer as much flexibility as we can, but some dates won't be possible because of how we process payments. If the first date you choose isn't an option, please try a couple of days before or after it.
• Your next monthly repayment will increase or decrease slightly. We do this to adjust for the change in interest payable caused by the increased or decreased number of days from your original repayment day to your new repayment day. (Don't worry, it's a one-off! Your repayments will return to normal the following month.)
• You won't be able to change your repayment day if: there's a repayment pending or in progress, or you've missed one or more repayments or have defaulted on your loan, or you recently made an extra repayment and haven't made a regular monthly repayment since.

Need a hand?

We're here to help. Call us on 020 7580 6060 (Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 5pm).

This could be down to two things. Please have a read below and see which one sounds like you.

Recently changed your repayment day? Your next monthly repayment will be slightly higher or lower than usual. This is to adjust for the change in interest payable caused by the change in number of days from your original repayment day to the new day. It's OK, this is a one-off! Your repayments will return to normal the following month.

Recently paid extra towards your loan? This will reduce your monthly repayment amount. (The term of your loan will stay the same.)

Yes you can, with no penalty fees. We can help you through it if you like, or you can do it yourself from your online dashboard or via our app.

To settle your loan online: please sign into your Zopa account, open up the relevant loan, and follow the steps on screen.

To settle your loan over the phone: call us on 020 7580 6060 (Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 5pm) and we'd be happy to walk you through it.

Things to keep in mind

• We'll take the final payment via your registered Direct Debit agreement. Once we've got the money we will not take any more payments from you. You're welcome to cancel your Direct Debit with us but please wait until the final payment has left your bank account.
• If we're processing one of your regular monthly repayments you'll need to wait a few days until the payment has cleared before you can make an extra payment.
• To settle your loan you need to repay the total amount of credit (which includes your borrowing fee) plus any interest that's due. This is all calculated for you in your settlement figure.
• We can't accept credit card payments.

Yes you can. As many as you like, with no penalty fees.

To pay extra online or via the app: please sign into your Zopa account, open up the relevant loan, and follow the steps on screen. We'll take the money through your Direct Debit.

To pay extra over the phone: call us on 020 7580 6060 (Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 5pm) and we'd be happy to walk you through it. You can choose to pay by Debit Card or via your Direct Debit.

Things to keep in mind

• An extra repayment will reduce your loan balance reduce the interest you pay overall and reduce the size of your monthly repayments.
• The term of your loan will stay the same.
• You'll need to pay at least £10.
• If we're processing one of your regular monthly repayments you won't be able to make an extra repayment. This is because it takes a while for the transaction to clear. Please wait a few days if that happens then try again.

Yes… well, sort of.

Your monthly repayments will go down if you pay extra towards your loan.

But it's not possible to pick a new amount from scratch, because your Loan Contract is a fixed agreement. This helps us responsibly plan the money that goes into and out of Zopa.

Life happens. Sometimes we forget things, or our finances don't run as planned.

If you miss a payment by mistake, you can pay online anytime by Direct Debit or a Debit Card. Just sign into your Zopa account and follow the instructions on screen.

You can also call us on 020 3770 5960 and pay by Direct Debit or Debit Card. Lines are open Monday to Thursday 9am to 6.30pm and Friday 9am to 5pm.

If you missed a repayment because you're struggling to keep up the most important thing is to talk to us. We can help you get back on track. Call us on the number above asap or email repayments@zopa.com

Struggling with your loan?

There are some amazing organisations that provide free impartial confidential debt advice. They can even talk to us on your behalf.

• Payplan – call 0808 250 9743 Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm or Saturday 9am to 3pm or request a call back from Payplan
• StepChange – call 0800 138 1111 Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm or Saturday 8am to 4pm

With the best intentions in the world, sometimes people fall behind on repayments. At Zopa we pride ourselves on giving people the support they need to get back on track.

If you find yourself in financial difficulties, the most important thing you can do is talk to us. We'll work with you to find a way forward, for example we might work out a temporary reduced repayment plan.

Call us on 020 3770 5960 Monday to Thursday 9am to 6.30pm and Friday 9am to 5pm or email repayments@zopa.com.

There are some amazing organisations that provide free impartial confidential debt advice. They can even talk to us on your behalf.

• Payplan – call 0808 250 9743 Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm or Saturday 9am to 3pm or request a call back from Payplan
• StepChange – call 0800 138 1111 Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm or Saturday 8am to 4pm
<

If you continue to miss payments and don't tell us why it could affect your credit rating. We might have to try and recover the full amount or involve a debt collection agency.

In an ideal world we wouldn't do any of that though. We'd have an honest and open chat and work out a way forward that's good for you us and the investors that funded your loan. So remember if you're struggling to pay don't suffer in silence. It's good to talk.

It's probably because we're processing one of your montly Direct Debits. The transaction can take several days to clear, before as well as after your repayment day.

Please wait a few days then head back to your account and try again.

Or if you'd like a hand, call 020 7580 6060 (Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 5pm) and we'd be happy to walk you through it.

No, the chunk of your loan repayments that goes towards interest changes over time.

This is called "amortisation".

With amortisation, part of each monthly repayment goes towards the interest on your loan. The rest is used to pay off the capital (the money you received).

Your first monthly Zopa repayment consists of a higher proportion of interest and a lower proportion of capital.

As you continue to pay off your loan, a progressively larger chunk of each repayment goes towards paying off the capital.

You'll often find this process in the world of finance, since it allows customers to repay a loan in predictable fixed instalments each month.

You can change your bank details in your online account settings.

Please keep in mind, it can take up to 9 working days for the change to be processed in full (bank systems can be a bit slow!). So if you want us to take your next repayment from your new bank account, be sure to update your Direct Debit details at least 9 working days before it's due.

What can I use the App for?

You can use the Zopa App ('the App') to view your Zopa accounts and related services in one place.

Please keep in mind, the App is not:

• A replacement for the Zopa website, or other communications from Zopa about your loan.
• Designed for loan account management actions.

Who can use the App?

• You must have a loan contract or investment with Zopa Ltd.
• If we need to, we can refuse to register you for the App and limit how you use it.

The devices it works on

• At the moment, the App works on: Android version 5 or above and iOS version 10 or later (we update these regularly). There may be different features depending on your phone or tablet, operating system or version of the app you have.

What does it cost?

• We won't charge you for using the App.
• Your internet or network service provider may charge you for using data on your smartphone or tablet.

How to register

• You can download the App onto your device via the Google Play store or the Apple App store.
• Once downloaded you will need to sign in using your Zopa credentials.

Conditions for using the App

Using the App in the right way

• Only use the App to view your accounts and related services
• Don't use the App to upload or store inappropriate or illegal images or content that breaches the rights of others
• Don't attempt to make any income directly from using the App
• Don't use the App to do anything illegal
• Don't use the App in a way that could damage it or stop it from working or affect our systems or other users – for example, by hacking into or inserting malicious code into the App or iOS, Android or other operating systems
• Don't collect any information or data from the App or our systems or try to read any messages or information not meant for you
• Make sure you obey any laws that apply to you in any place you use the App

How you must protect your access and information

• The App gives you access to your accounts, so you need to make sure you don't allow anyone to log into your account through the app.
• Always keep your phone or tablet secure and close the Zopa App if you're not using it.
• App Push Notifications include your transaction details, which will appear on the locked screen of your mobile device unless you change its settings.
• Some devices allow you to use your fingerprint or Face ID for logging into the App. If you enable this feature, then anyone whose fingerprint or Face ID is registered on your phone or tablet may be able to log into the app and access your accounts. Therefore, you must not activate this feature if you allow other people to access your phone or tablet using their fingerprint or Face ID. You should delete any other fingerprints or Face ID registered on the device first; otherwise, transactions made by anyone else who has their fingerprint or Face ID registered on the device will be treated as being authorised by you.
• Don't install or use the App on a jail-broken or rooted device. These have had their security features changed in order to work, which makes them less secure, and means that fraudsters could access your phone or tablet and steal your information or money.

How we use cookies

Our Cookie Policy forms part of our Privacy Policy.

Zopa uses cookies to improve the performance of the App and to give you a better experience. This Cookie Policy explains what types of cookie we use why and how to identify and delete them.

Please note that by deleting our cookies or disabling future cookies you may not be able to access certain areas or features of our web site or the App.

You can view our cookie policy here

How the App accesses information about you

• If you use certain features the App will need to access information on your phone or tablet to work.
• If you enable push notifications in your device settings we will send you notifications in accordance with the applicable OS (iOS/Android) End User Licence Agreement.
• If we can we'll ask you before the App accesses your device or information – and you can decline.
• You can manage how the App accesses your device or information using privacy settings on your iPhone or iPad. You can also do it through the usage settings in the App's menu.
• If you don't do this we'll assume you agree that the App can access your device or information.
• When you use any part of the App which needs your location to work you agree that we (and other organisations that work with us) can collect and use information about your location.

Information on the Zopa App

INFORMATION ON THE ZOPA APP IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND WE DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE MERCHANTABILITY FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE CANNOT GUARANTEE AND DO NOT PROMISE ANY SPECIFIC RESULTS FROM USE OF THE ZOPA APP OR ANY INFORMATION ON THE APP. WE DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT SOFTWARE CONTENT INFORMATION ON LINKS OR MATERIALS ON THE ZOPA APP IS ACCURATE COMPLETE RELIABLE CURRENT OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT THE ZOPA APP OR ITS SERVERS OR ANY SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THEREFORE YOU SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION IN THE USE AND DOWNLOADING OF ANY SUCH SOFTWARE INFORMATION OR MATERIALS AND USE INDUSTRY-RECOGNISED SOFTWARE TO DETECT AND DISINFECT VIRUSES. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU DOWNLOAD INFORMATION MATERIAL OR SOFTWARE (INCLUDING ANY MOBILE CLIENT) FROM OR THROUGH THE ZOPA APP AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR USE THEREOF AND ANY DAMAGES TO YOUR DEVICE OR COMPUTER SYSTEM LOSS OF INFORMATION OR OTHER HARM OF ANY KIND THAT MAY RESULT.

What else you need to know

Changes to the App and our terms and conditions

• If we need to change anything about the App we'll tell you about the change in advance (if it negatively affects how you use the app) or we'll tell you after we make the change (if it benefits you or doesn't affect how you use the App). We may do this by displaying a message about the change when you next use the App or log into our website.
• From time to time we may update the App through the Google Play store or the Apple App store. Depending on what the update is you may not be able to use the App until you've installed the latest version and accepted the new information about it. We'll let you know via your phone or tablet when there's a new version to install

Contacting you

• From time to time we may contact you about the App by email text or other messages in the App or by telephone or post.
• We may still sometimes send communications by post for example notices about a breach of your agreement. This may be instead of or in addition to communications by electronic means.
• It is important that you keep us updated with any changes to your contact details.

If things go wrong

There are some things that we're not responsible for because they're out of our control or they relate to how your phone or tablet works. We can't be responsible for any loss if:

• You cannot access the App for any reason or it's slow.
• Any device hardware or software you use with the App is damaged or corrupted or doesn't work.
• The App doesn't work as you expect doesn't meet your requirements or contains errors or defects or we don't correct these.
• You don't receive a text or message in the App in time.
• We're prevented from providing any service in part or in full because of something a third party does.

If you're unhappy with something

• If you're unhappy with the App or feel we have done something wrong please contact us at appfeedback@zopa.com and give us the opportunity to investigate and resolve the matter. This also helps improve our service for all customers.
• If we do not resolve your complaint internally to your satisfaction you may be able to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Financial Ombudsman Service is a free and independent service for resolving disputes with financial firms. Further details can be found at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

Our Legal and Regulatory Status and Supervision

Zopa Limited is:

• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and entered on the Financial Services Register (718925).
• Zopa Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, and entered on the Financial Services Register (800542). Zopa Limited (05197592) and Zopa Bank Limited (10627575) are both incorporated in England & Wales and have their registered office at: 1st Floor, Cottons Centre, Tooley Street, London, SE1 2QG.
• © Zopa Bank Limited 2019 All rights reserved. 'Zopa' is a trademark of Zopa Bank Limited.
• Zopa is a member of CIFAS – the UK's leading anti-fraud association, and we are registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner (ZA275984, Z8797078).

It happens! We'll get you back in.

Typed the wrong password too many times?

Please call us on 020 7580 6060 (Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm, Friday 8am to 5pm). We'll ask a few questions to make absolutely sure you're you and then we can unlock your account.

Forgotten your password?

To reset it go to our login page and hit the "forgot password" link. We'll ask you to enter the email address you use with Zopa so we can email you a reset link.

It's easy to close your Zopa account, as long as you have no active loans or money currently invested with us:

1. Go to our contact form.
2. Select 'Account closure' from the menu.
3. Enter your details and send us a message.
4. We'll close your account and email you to confirm when it's done.

An inbox tidy-up. Good idea.

To unsubscribe from marketing emails: sign into your Zopa account, head to your personal details, edit your contact preferences, and remember to save your changes.

Or just click the "unsubscribe" link in the footer of one of our marketing emails.

You'll still continue to get service emails and legal updates from us, so we can keep you up to speed on the important stuff.

The Zopa Loan Conditions form the legal basis of all our Loan Contracts. They set out our obligations to each customer and each customer's obligations to us.

Each customer's Loan Contract is personalised with their specific loan details.

We conform to all UK data protection laws, and we take your security seriously.

We will never share any information other than what's necessary for Zopa to function as a financial marketplace.

Please see our Zopa Principles for all the details including:

• What information you'll need to provide when you sign up to Zopa.
• How we use this information.
• What information will be made available to other customers or third parties.
• How and when we'll contact you.

We'll ask you to read and agree to the Zopa Principles when you sign up.

What's a credit score?

It's a number based on the information in your credit file. Each credit reference agency calculates this differently, and most lenders will give you their own score based on your credit report. The higher the score, the more creditworthy you are and more the company believes you'll make repayments.

Who provides the credit score information in the Zopa app?

Noddle, a trading name of TransUnion Consumer Limited.

There's a error in my credit score in the Zopa app. How do I correct it?

Your credit score information is given to us by Noddle, a trading name of TransUnion Consumer Limited. You can access your full credit file for free at noddle.com. You can correct any errors or raise a dispute directly with them. Your updated information will flow through to the app when we update your score the following month.

How can I complain about the app?

General app complaints – Email us at complaints@zopa.com with details of your complaint. We'll let you know we've got your complaint within one working day. We'll then investigate it and give you an initial repsonse within three working days.

Credit score complaints – For issues with your credit score please follow TransUnion's complaint procedure.

Why is my score in the Zopa app different to my score elsewhere?

Every credit score provider has a unique way of working out your score. Noddle's score which you see in our app is out of 710. But we know some credit score providers will score you out of 999. Keep this in mind if you're looking at scores from different providers side-by-side.

How often will I get updates about my credit score in the Zopa app?

We'll refresh your score once a month. We'll keep you posted on any changes and if it's gone up or down we'll tell you why.

How do I unsubscribe from the credit score service in the Zopa app?

To unsubscribe follow these steps:

1. Open the app
2. Hit the 'Account' button at the bottom of your screen
3. Hit 'Settings' in the menu
4. Under the 'Credit score' area switch off the 'Credit score subscription' toggle

Zopa – Account Information Services Terms ("AIS Terms")

These terms cover the provision of account information services through the Zopa App. This is where you can see account information for your non-Zopa accounts (for example, a bank, building society or credit card account) within the Zopa App.

1. Introduction

Zopa (referred to as 'we', 'us' and 'our') is the appointed agent of TrueLayer Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 10278251) with its registered office at 3rd Floor, 1 Hardwick Street, London, United Kingdom, EC1R 4RB ("TrueLayer") and we act on behalf of TrueLayer as their agent to provide you with account information services.

TrueLayer is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/752) (Firm Reference Number: 793171) with permission to carry out account information services and payment initiation services.

Please note that TrueLayer is your regulated provider of the account information services, and they are responsible to you for the provision of such services. TrueLayer's End-User Terms of Service sets out their liability to you for the account information services.

By using the account information services, you agree to be bound by the AIS Terms. If you don't want to be bound by them, you should not use these services.

The account information services provided under these terms are not intended to provide accurate, real-time information, and should not be relied on for that purpose.

2. Who can use these services?

To use the account information services you must be registered to use our mobile app ("Zopa App").

These AIS Terms apply in addition to any other agreement you have in place with us, including the Zopa Principles, the Zopa Website and Zopa App Terms. To use the service you will also need to accept Truelayer's terms and conditions. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between your agreements with Zopa and TrueLayer, these AIS Terms will take precedence over the other agreements with, to the extent necessary to resolve any such conflict or inconsistency.

3. How the Service Works

• When you use the service via the Zopa App, we will transfer you to TrueLayer so that you can provide TrueLayer with the information needed to enable TrueLayer to retrieve your non-Zopa account information.
• TrueLayer will ask for your consent to access your account information. Once you have provided this, you will be able to instruct TrueLayer to retrieve account information about your non-Zopa payment accounts (for example, a bank, building society or credit card account) and then transfer it to us.
• To enable TrueLayer to access your account information, you will need to provide the same credentials that you use to access your non-Zopa accounts when you log in yourself on the original provider's website or app (the 'Credentials').
• Truelayer's software tool will use your Credentials to retrieve account information to then transmit to Zopa.
• TrueLayer will then transfer non-Zopa account information to us. We will aggregate and use this data to display information about your non-Zopa accounts on the Zopa App in an aggregated form, so that you can view your recent transactions and the balance of all your connected accounts in the Zopa App.
• TrueLayer will continue to access your account information and send it to us on a regular basis (no more than once every hour) for each provider you have connected, until you withdraw your consent via the Zopa app.

4. What does it cost?

Nothing – we won't charge you for using the account information services.

5. Your data

Your privacy is important to us.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, transfer and store your data and sets out your rights to your data.

We will not be responsible for the data you provide to TrueLayer (including your Credentials) to enable TrueLayer to access your non-Zopa payment accounts. We will only be responsible for your data once we have received it from TrueLayer.

In providing these services TrueLayer will access the following account information:

• Personal information: name, date of birth, full address(es), email address, phone number;
• Accounts: type (e.g. current, saving, investment, credit card), Account name, IBAN/Account number/Sort code/SWIFT, Provider Logo and Name, Currency, Current balance, available balance, and Overdraft balance;
• Card: Card Type (debit or credit), Payment due amount, Payment due date, Last statement balance, Last statement date, Partial Card Number (last 4 digits), Valid From / To, Card Network, credit limit, name of card issue, logo of issuing bank
• Information on transactions: Transaction Amount, Merchant Name, Transaction Type, Transaction Category and Transaction Classification (e.g. Income or Entertainment), Time; Description; Amount; and/or Metadata (arbitrary data that your non-Zopa account provider may associate with a transaction e.g. category).

6. If things go wrong

All content and information associated with the account information services are provided to you by Zopa on an "as-is" and "as available" basis. We make no warranties or representation of any kind (whether express or implied) as to the content or operation of the account information services, including the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the content on the Zopa App, including the account information.

As we act on behalf of TrueLayer as their agent, we are not responsible for the parts of the account information service provided by Truelayer,and we will not be liable to you for any loss or damage caused by provision of the parts of those parts of the account information service. TrueLayer's End-User Terms of Service set out their liability to you for provision of the account information services.

We are responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us; where we fail to comply with these terms; where we act negligently or fraudulently; or where we fail to use reasonable skill and care to ensure that the Zopa App is safe and secure and does not contain viruses or other damaging property.

We are not responsible for any harm, damage or loss to you arising from or relating to hacking, tampering or any unauthorised access to your account information, Credentials or other data outside of the Service that we provide. You must make all reasonable efforts to secure your Credentials and account information outside the provision of this service.

We are not responsible events that are out of our control or issues that relate to how your phone or tablet works. For example, we are not responsible for any loss you suffer if TrueLayer is unable to connect to your non-Zopa payment account to retrieve your account information.

7. Ending the AIS Terms

These AIS Terms have no minimum duration. If you no longer wish to use this service you can end this agreement at any time by disconnecting all providers. If we want to end this agreement we can do so by giving you at least 30 days' notice.

We can also end our agreement with you without giving you notice in advance if:

• you've seriously or persistently broken the AIS Terms;
• you're using or allowing someone else to use the account information services illegally or fraudulently (or we reasonably suspect you may be);
• you weren't entitled to register or are no longer entitled to be registered for the Zopa App;
• we reasonably consider that you have placed us in a position where we might break a law, regulation, code, court order or other duty, requirement or obligation or we may be exposed to action or censure from any government, regulator or law enforcement agency;
• there has been, or we suspect there has been, a breach of security or misuse of your account, Zopa App, security details or a payment device; or
• we reasonably believe that you've intentionally provided us or TrueLayer with any false, accurate or misleading information.

8. Changes to the terms

We may make changes to the AIS Terms that we reasonably believe are not disadvantageous to you, or to respond proportionately to:

• changes in general law or decisions or recommendations made by a court, any regulator or similar organisation or ombudsman we have to follow (e.g. the Financial Ombudsman Service);
• changes in regulatory requirements;
• new industry guidance and codes of practice;
• changes in the costs of providing the account information services;
• changes imposed by TrueLayer, as a result of us acting as an agent on their behalf; or
• changes to the functionality of the Zopa App or the way we operate it.

We may also make changes without giving a reason but we'll explain the impact of the change and you'll always be able to end the service without charge before the change takes effect. We need this flexibility so that we can manage our services over a long period of time.

If the change is unfavourable to you, we'll always try to give you at least 30 days' notice before making the change. If the change is favourable to you, we'll tell you within 30 days of the change being made.

You can stop using our services if you don't want to accept the change and you may contact us in accordance with section 11 below, but if you continue to use the services after we've given you notice you'll be deemed to have accepted it.

9. How you can make a complaint

If you have a complaint, please contact us by:

Post: Zopa Limited, 1st Floor, Cottons Centre, Tooley Street, London, SE1 2QG
Email:contactus@zopa.com

We'll send you a written acknowledgement of your complaint as soon as possible. We'll send you a Summary Resolution Communication within 3 working days. Where possible we will send you a final response within 15 working days. If we can't provide a final response within 15 working days we will send you a holding response.

If we provide a holding response we will provide a final response within 35 working days of receiving your complaint.

If you're dissatisfied with our final response you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service at:

Exchange Tower London E14 9SR
Telephone: 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9123
complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

You may also have the option to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service using the Online Dispute Resolution platform. The platform has been established by the European Commission to provide an online tool for consumers to resolve disputes about goods and services purchased online. The platform can be found at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.

10. For us to contact you

• From time to time we may contact you about the account information services by email text messages in the Zopa App or by telephone or post.
• We may still sometimes send communications by post for example notices about a breach of your agreement. This may be instead of or in addition to communications by electronic means.
• It is important that you keep us updated with any changes to your contact details.

11. For you to contact us

Post: Zopa Limited 1st Floor Cottons Centre Tooley Street London SE1 2QG
Email: contactus@zopa.com

Note: We may record or monitor telephone calls for training and quality purposes. We may also record the numbers you call us from and may use them if we need to contact you urgently.

We'll always use English to communicate with you.

You may request a copy of these AIS Terms from us at any time by using the above contact methods. Please note that a copy of these AIS Terms is also available here. These AIS Terms are only available in English.

12. Governing law and jurisdiction

The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any disputes arising under or in connection with these AIS Terms.

These AIS Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

All UK residents who are over 18 and with a UK current account can invest with us.

Unfortunately we're not set up for invesments through a Self Invested Personl Pension (SIPP) yet, but keep an eye on our blog for any news.

Isle of Man or Channel Island resident?

Due to current HMRC restrictions around withholding and declaring tax, you can't invest with us yet. We'll let you know if anything changes.

As with any lending, there are some risks, the biggest being that a borrower doesn't repay. Zopa has the following steps in place to keep this risk to a minimum:

• Everyone who wants to borrow is identity checked, credit checked and risk assessed for their loan by our experienced team
• Your money is spread across a number of borrowers to diversify your risk
• A collections agency chases any missed payments on your behalf

As a sensible lending platform we have contingency plans designed to protect you the in the event that Zopa was to cease trading. Your money is lent directly to borrowers, meaning that your contract is with each borrower and is not part of Zopa's assets. Any money held in Zopa and not lent out is in a segregated account, meaning your money does not form part of Zopa's assets.

Yes and no. You'll be able to see relevant information about their loan in your loan book: like how much they borrowed, what risk market they're in, loan purpose, etc. But you won't know their name or address or anything like that for obvious security reasons.

Loan servicing fee

We apply a loan servicing fee to each loan contract, which is deducted directly from each borrower repayment before the principal and interest is passed on to investors. The cost of the loan servicing fee may vary between investment products.

A loan servicing fee is: A monthly fee, calculated using the Zopa Servicing Rate under the Loan Contract to cover the cost of administering Loan Contracts and which may include a Safeguard Contribution (to the extent that the full amount for the Safeguard Contribution was not included in the Borrowing Fee)

1% loan sale fee

We charge a 1% administration fee when selling loan in Classic, Core, and Plus. This is applied to the proceeds from successful loan sales, and deducted from the final amount before being put into your holding account.

We will always display an estimate of the 1% loan sale fee cost before you confirm your loan sale. However, this is an estimate, and may change (for example if we can't sell the full amount you have requested).

Market rate adjustment fee

In the event you wish to cash out any Market Loan before it is repaid by selling it to another investor, there may be a market rate adjustment. This means you may not receive the full value of outstanding capital of your loan if it has a lower projected return than an equivalent new loan today.

Example: You may try to sell a loan with £10 of outstanding capital. If the projected return for a similar new loan today is the same as your loan and the borrower has not missed a repayment, the buying investor will pay you £10. If the projected return for a similar new loan today is higher than your loan and the borrower has been inconsistent with repayments then an appropriate market rate adjustment is made and the buying investor may pay you £9.80.

Any outstanding capital deducted from the buying investor's purchase price represents the additional projected return they would expect to earn if they had acquired an equivalent new loan today.

Any market rate adjustments consider interest rate changes and how well your loans have been performing to date.

We regularly update our Principles.

Yes, they can, but there are some essential requirements. The business must be:

• A UK-based Limited company
• Lending for investment reasons only and not engaged in the trade of money-lending

You'll need to create a normal account in the name and details of a controlling Director. Before you start investing, we'll need the following information and documents to make some checks and then update your account to a company investment account:

• A scanned copy of your Certificate of Incorporation
• Confirmation of legal structure and owners
  • Names of individuals owning more than 25%
  • Names of individuals exercising control over management of firm

• Confirmation of who you'd like to instruct on the account
• Two forms of identification for the controlling Director and anyone else who is authorised to instruct on the account:
  • a valid passport, driving licence or EU/EEA ID Card, accompanied with
  • a bank statement or utility bill dated within the last 3 months.

Please send all documents to contactus@zopa.com using the email address you used to set up the account.

If you have any questions or troubles at all please contact our Customer Services on 020 7291 8331 or email contactus@zopa.com.

We retired Safeguard coverage on the 1st of December 2017, meaning no new investments are covered. From 2013 to 2017, some of our products were offered with coverage from a provision fund called Safeguard. During that time, it was a tax-efficient way for investors to offset bad debt against interest on their loans. It worked by buying up bad loans and paying back the investor. And, to date, all claims on Safeguard have been paid out.

In 2015, HMRC made some changes. New guidance meant investors could make a claim for tax relief on peer-to-peer losses directly. With the primary reason for the fund now removed, we took the decision that from 1 December 2017, we could retire all products with Safeguard coverage.

The Zopa Safeguard is a fund held in trust by a not-for-profit organisation. As the fund is held in trust this means the money in it cannot be used by Zopa and there are rules for how the fund can be used.

The fund was created to step in if a borrower gets into financial difficulty and can't keep up with their repayments, to the point where they are behind on their loan by at least four months' worth of repayments. At this point the Trustee and Zopa would work in conjunction to give you the money you are owed (the remainder of the money you lent them, plus any interest due on it up to that point in time).

The Safeguard fund has covered all bad loans since it launched, but of course there is some risk it may not always be able to do so. The fund is not covered by the FSCS.

Zopa provides the money for the Safeguard fund. When a borrower is approved for a Zopa loan they pay a fee which covers the basic running costs of the company, including our loans team and the technology behind our website, and a contribution to the Zopa Safeguard. To determine the rate for the borrowers (the APR), the tracker rates add an applicable borrower fee which includes an amount to cover Zopa Safeguard.

Short answer: as long as you like!

Because borrowers repay monthly, your money isn't tied up for a fixed duration. If you have automatic reinvesting on, then that money isput towards buying new loans. If you don't, it goes into holding and waits for you to decide what to do with it: reinvest it at Zopa, or withdraw it to spend on whatever you like.

And if you need to access your money while it's still lent out, you can always sell your loans to other investors (rememebr there's a 1% fee associated with this).

So there's no fixed term, and no upper time limit on investing. It's entirely up to you.

Zopa has many years' experience in credit-checking borrowers and through careful monitoring of loans has a higher repayment rate than the banks. This means Zopa can predict very accurately the level of non-payers, and very accurately monitor the Safeguard fund to check it contains enough money to cover you for these borrowers, with an additional buffer.

If for any reason the Safeguard did run short of money, P2PS (the Trustee) would give lenders a proportion of the amount owed rather than the whole amount. This would mean that you would at least get some of your money back. The Trustee would do this whilst Safeguard funds are built up from new loans with the aim of being able to give you the full amount back in the future.

In the extremely unlikely event that the Safeguard was unable to give lenders any payment P2PS would still take ownership of the loan and anything they recover would be given back to you. At Zopa you lend your money in small chunks across lots of different borrowers so if you did end up with a borrower who could not repay they would make up a very small amount of what you've lent out.

The Zopa Safeguard will assess every case individually and intends to approve each one. However in exceptional circumstances it may choose not to approve a case or may only approve part of it in order to protect the fund.

For Zopa Access and Zopa Classic, you'll be able to lend from as little as £10.

For Zopa Plus and Zopa Core, given these products are not Safeguarded, we want to ensure that customers' loan books are adequately diversified, to help investors manage the risk of default. Therefore, we'll require a minimum investment level of £1,000 from customers who wish to invest in these products.

There is no maximum to the amount you can lend.

Zopa displays your lending activity by product in the Lending Summary so that you can see the amount lent, lending rate and queue associated with each of your active products. For the Zopa Plus product we also provide additional information on the projected annualised returns which you can expect to receive after bad debt. We will also provide a statement to show a summary of your earnings at Zopa.

All products have a mix of loan terms, up to 5 years. Today we disburse more 5 year loans than any other loan term. Zopa will give you the market blend of different loan terms based on the current demand. It is important to note that the default setting in Zopa is to have re-lending turned on which means as your money is repaid by borrowers each month it will be lent out in new loans.

Today, when a borrower makes a loan application, we score their application using a wide range of information, such as income, mortgage and debt levels, to give them a rating from A*–E.

All customers accepted by Zopa must continue to meet our strict lending criteria for UK residency, minimum age, income and affordability. Customers may be scored as D or E due to a number of factors, including higher levels of personal debt or limited credit histories, which makes them slightly higher risk than our C-rated customers. Find out more about our risk markets.

All advertised headline rates are published net of expected defaults. We publish expected vs. actual default rates by calendar year so lenders can understand how Zopa has performed in relation to our original forecasts.

We also provide more detailed information on our projected annualised returns and expected default rates by risk market.

In addition Zopa's entire historic loan book is available for customers to download if they wish to perform their own analysis on our loan book.

Introducing Zopa's risk markets

The Zopa collections team manage all borrowers who are behind on their repayments. If a borrower has reached a point where they are behind on their loan by at least four months' worth of repayments P2PS would work in conjunction with Zopa to continue to chase borrowers.

If the loan is covered by Safeguard e.g. loans within Zopa Classic or Zopa Access products, then Safeguard is designed to cover expected losses where a borrower is unable to meet at least 4 months' worth of repayments. In some circumstances a borrower may have passed away, be declared bankrupt or insolvent, or enter an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA); in these cases as soon as Zopa has confirmation of this, P2PS would start administrative actions, beginning with giving Safeguarded lenders the outstanding balance of the loan.

When Safeguard makes a pay out the loan will look as if the outstanding capital and interest has been paid in full and nothing is due on the loan; the payments will be itemised in your transactional statement. In the end of year financial statement the loan would not show up as bad debt.

Sometimes, borrowers will miss a repayment. Most of the time, they get back on track and continue to pay back their loan.

But if they miss 4 months' worth of repayments, we then classify their loan as in default.

We don't write them off, though. We still actively work with the borrower to collect on these loans, and anything we recover we pass back to you (net of the usual fees).

The exact amount will vary depending on how much money you have in the platform, but no one borrower will hold more than 1% of your total investment.

For example, by investing £1,000, 100 borrowers will each get £10. This is one of the ways we manage risk in your investment.

Yes! You can have all of our investment products open at the same time. Only one can be the automatic destination for new money you put into the platform though, so bear that in mind when adding funds.

You can also mix and match how you want your repayments to be reinvested. For example, you can invest new money into Core, and have your repayments go into Plus. Just remember that the £1,000 minimum investment still applies: so your money won't be lent out until you reach this amount (through your repayments or by topping up your account).

IFISA

Once you've opened an IFISA acount, you can opt to invest in both options if you like – just be sure to not exceed your annual allowance (across our IFISA and any others you may have).

You can change your settings any time via the Manage tab on your investment summary.

Sign into Zopa and then select Manage Lending from the top menu.

You can transfer money in via:

• Bank transfer: You can make a transfer to us through online banking, telephone banking or in branch. If you make a transfer via faster payment it will be funded to your account same day. Standard bank transfers can take up to 5 working days. Remember to include your unique reference when you make the transfer.
• Standing order: You can set up a Standing Order with your bank to transfer regular payments to your account.
• Cheque: You can also send us a cheque payable to Zopa Ltd and addressed to Zopa Ltd, 1st floor, Cottons Centre, 47-49 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2QG.

If you've already chosen your product, your money will start being matched to borrowers as soon as it's funded to your account.

We are still testing this feature. Your monthly repayments from borrowers contain capital and interest. If you would like to recycle your capital from your repayments each month but withdraw your interest to your bank account, you can do this by contacting our customer services team and asking them to add you to our beta trial where you can set a re-lending limit on your account for the maximum you would like to have lent out. This means you can then withdraw any repayments which come back which are above the limit you set.

Your loan book is packed full of detailed information about your loans. But how does it all relate to your product(s)'s projected return displayed on your investment summary?

Against each of your loans if the investor rate. This is rate of interest on that specific loan, already minus any fees. To get your projected return, we combined all the investor rates in your loan book and work out the average.

Yes, you can – via your loan book (there's a link to it on your investment summary).

Bear in mind, though, that these aren't fixed sums: they're what we would expect a borrower to repay each month, with interest, should they pay back consistently over the term of their loan. But sometimes, often actually with our borrowers, they pay back early, or overpay each month. So the amounts can vary.

Also, the first repayment you receive from a borrower will always be slightly larger than subsequent ones: this is because we don't ask for payment until about six weeks after they get their loan.

Of course, with peer-to-peer lending, there's always a risk that a borrower will be unable to repay their loan, so this can also affect your expected monthly repayments.

• WithdrawalPending – The loan has been disbursed to the borrower by BACS; your statement will reflect this.
• Withdrawn – The funds have been received by the borrower, this is an active loan.
• Closed – The loan has been fully repaid.
• Collections – One or more payments have been missed on a loan. Our collections team are following up the arrears.
• Arrangement – The borrower has fallen behind on regular repayments but an arrangement has been made for them to pay a reduced regular amount.
• Default – A loan that has fallen more than four months in to arrears and has defaulted. It is at this point that, where a loan is covered by Zopa Safeguard that the fund would typically pay out. Where a loan is not covered by Safeguard then Zopa in conjunction with P2PS will continue to chase the borrower on your behalf. You can find updates on these loans by viewing the comments section of your detailed loan book. Any payments which are returned will be passed back to lenders net of fees.
• Hardship – This is when a borrower is in an extreme circumstance e.g. terminal illness. We gain evidence from the borrower regarding their situation before placing them into this state. Interest on their loan is frozen when in a state of hardship. For loans that are covered by Safeguard fund the fund will still step in after four months of arrears.
• Settled – This is when borrower is unable to repay in full but can repay a certain percentage of their debt with a lump sum on a loan marked as defaulted. Zopa will only accept these terms and apply the Settled state after a thorough assessment of the borrower's circumstances. If all criteria are met we will accept the one-off payment and write off the remainder of the bad debt.

If you want to distinguish your loans which are covered by Safeguard (Zopa Classic and Zopa Access) from your loans which are not covered by safeguard (either from Pre-April 2013 or in Zopa Core or Plus), go to My Loan Book Overview, you'll then see the aggregation of the number and value of your Safeguard and non-Safeguard loans.

We've set a minimum lending limit to make sure that only a small proportion of your money is lent to a single borrower. This was determined by simulating different scenarios for borrower defaults against our current loan book. We found that a lender should have at least 100 microloans to maximize the chance of earning positive returns. Our smallest microloan size for new investments is £10, so for Core or Plus we need at least £1,000 to achieve this.

Don't worry, it's not gone forever. It'll be picked up at the next matching event and the issue will be resolved when you get your first repayments.

When you initially invest with Zopa, your funds can be first matched to loans in progress that other lenders (looking to make a withdrawal, for example) are selling. These are rarely nice round numbers and so your pennies can be split down to 8 decimal places. We can only give you money for full penny amounts: so when we come to calculate your Zopa Total (deposits + withdrawals), we prefer to be conservative, and round these pennies down: hence the temporarily missing copper, which corrects itself with your first repayments.

All returns are paid without any tax - even basic rate - deducted, so you should declare your gains to the Inland Revenue. At the end of the tax year we'll make an annual income statement available to you to download from your account showing the total gross interest you've received over the previous 12 months.

Zopa provides an annual statement to make it simple to declare your earnings to the HMRC for tax purposes. In June 2016 we updated our tax statements to reflect changes to HMRC's guidelines regarding tax relief for bad debt:

• From tax year 2015/16 bad debt can be offset against interest income
• Repayments on defaulted loans should be treated as taxable income (where they were previously eligible for tax relief)

The amount of income tax you pay is dependent on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.

The Personal Savings Allowance (PSA) was introduced for the 2016/17 tax year onwards and allows lower bracket tax-payers to earn up to £1,000 per year (£500 for higher earners) in savings income tax free. Your peer-to-peer (P2P) earnings are covered by your PSA which means you can already benefit from tax-free earnings with Zopa (and / or any other P2P platforms you may use).

From 2016/17 tax year all peer to peer lending companies with full FCA permissions will be able to offer an Innovative Finance ISA. This will allow lenders to invest up to £20,000 a year (annual allowance for the 217/18 tax year) in a P2P platform tax free. Read more here.

Absolutely nothing. We work with borrowers to get them back on track with their repayments, and 4 out of 5 borrowers who miss repayments will go on to repay their loan in full.

For the 1 out of 5 who can't pay back, we still actively work to recover your investment and pass on anything we do collect back to you.

On occasion, we may sell on unrecoverable debt to a third party collections agency. Investors with a stake in the loans sold get a share of the proceeds which will vary depending on the price we get for the debt as a whole.

There's loads of advice from HMRC on their website. So if you're unsure of what you need to declare, check out their site for the full guidance.

We've summarised things for you here but if you're in any way unsure check the full guidance.

• The guidance around peer-to-peer lending and how to declare earnings can be found here.
• Zopa does not collect taxes on your behalf and you must declare your earnings to HMRC. If you fill out a self-assessment tax return you must include your Zopa earnings; if you're not self-assessed contact HMRC for instructions on how to declare.
• "Refer a friend" bonuses are taxable and should be declared (guidance)
• "Cash back" is typically not considered taxable (guidance)
• Early adopter bonuses are also taxable
• You can't offset fees for selling loans against income from loans.

In the event of the death of an investor the loan contracts still stand but the benefit passes first to the estate of the deceased and then, if appropriate, on to the ultimate beneficiary. The value of the portfolio is calculated on the date of death as the total capital outstanding plus any funds not yet loaned out. Once Zopa are informed and sent a certified copy of the death certificate we would stop the account from lending more funds and provide details of the account to the administrator or executor. Before any financial changes can be made to the account we would require a certified copy of the Grant of Probate for our records.

Zopa will continue to recover repayments and interest earned on existing loans for the benefit of the deceased lenders estate, until we are permitted to distribute the funds as instructed by the executor, which can be monthly, quarterly etc as agreed with the executor. This process continues until the outstanding loans are fully repaid or otherwise come to an end. Be aware the continuing receipt of interest on existing loans may give rise to a tax liability and the executor will need to address this with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs or other tax authority as appropriate. Unfortunately, we cannot recover funds that are still on loan to borrowers and not due to be repaid yet; in order to retrieve these funds, the executor, administrator or ultimate beneficiary would need to allow the repayments to accrue within the holding account, before withdrawal.

There is an option to sell the portfolio of loans, for a 1% fee, rather than wait for them to be repaid over time. This can be done through our Rapid Return facility although there are certain restrictions to this policy, which can be found here. If the executor wishes to utilise the Rapid Return facility, upon receipt of satisfactory evidence and compliance with any other Zopa requirements, the personal representative will be permitted to utilise the Rapid Return facility on behalf of the account holder's estate. The standard conditions for this facility apply and any loans that cannot be transferred will continue to run their course; the representative will have access to the funds as and when they are available.

Zopa is unable to change the name on a lender's account as the agreement itself cannot be transferred into another individual's name. A lender is however able to make a request in their Will to leave the funds in their Zopa account and proceeds to a particular individual, although this will be subject to the laws of probate. The important things to consider are how they want the available funds at the date of death to be administered as well as any monies not yet due, i.e. capital outstanding on active loan contracts and the expected interest and repayments on them.

In both cases the more explicit the instructions the better (i.e. who the recipients are and how much each should receive) as we have a duty to act in strict accordance with the individual's Will. In order to meet your wishes, we would simply require the appropriate documentation from your nominated solicitor to carry out these requests. Once probate is completed and we have the relevant documentation we would then deal directly with the beneficiary.

Should a borrower pass away, the loan contract would still stand. Once we're informed, and receive a copy of the death certificate, we give the executor all the details of the loan and the settlement figure. The estate can then opt to either pay off the outstanding amount, or set up a new direct debit from the executor's account to continue the monthly repayments.

There are two ways you can access your money from our investment products.

1. Sell your loans to access a lump sum

If you want to withdraw a lump sum, you need to sell your loans to other investors. This service is always available as long as there are other investors to give your loan a new home. It's a speedy but not immediate service, as it isn't like an instant access bank account.

For Zopa Classic, Zopa Core and Zopa Plus there is a 1% fee associated with this service. Zopa Access customers who wish to sell their loans are exempt from this 1% fee, these loans will also be prioritised for sale on the secondary market above loans from other lending products.

If the loan you're selling is at a lower rate than the lowest rate on a similar new loan today, you'll need to pay a small amount to the investor taking over your loan. This covers the extra interest they could have earned by buying a new loan instead.

Finally, accrued interest is not paid to the seller. If you have repayments due in 3 days, for example, but request a loan sale before then, you will not receive those repayments.

2. Collect your repayments in your holding account

You can choose to send all of your repayments directly to your holding account, from where you can withdraw it at no charge. However, it's important to remember that money in your holding account does not earn any interest. To keep your money active, you can set your repayments to go back into a product, where it will be automatically relent at the latest rates.

You can change where your repayments go via the "Manage" tab in my Zopa.

Yep! If you have reinvesting switched on, you can decide where repayments in each products go (back into the same one, or into another).

If you turn reinvesting off then it's off for all products and your repayments will go directly into holding. They won't earn any interest there, but you can decide where to reinvest them or withdraw your money. The choice is yours.

Throughout the month, you'll receive repayments from each of your borowers. These are made up of your initial investment and interest. You'll receive these each month until the loan is repaid or, in some cases, the loan goes into default.

We anticipate a certain amount of money plus interest each month from each borrower, but sometimes they pay back a little more or they end up repaying early. So the monthly repayment can vary.

You can choose to either automatically reinvest these repayments, or direct them to holding, where you can manually reinvest or withdraw the money.

If you need access to money that you have lent to borrowers before they are due to pay it back, Zopa has a tool to help sell your loans to other lenders.

Do I have to pay a fee?

We charge a 1% admin fee for all successful transfers made via this tool, apart from transfer from Zopa Access (which was discontinued in 2017).

Do I have to sell all my loans?

You can use this tool to sell some or all of your loans. If you only want to access some of your money, you can select a specific amount to sell.

Will I receive all my outstanding capital back? What is a "market rate adjustment"?

There may be situations where the interest rate on loans you wish to sell is lower than the current market rates. So that other lenders can still buy those loans from you, an extra amount needs to be credited to them. This amount represents the extra interest they would expect to earn if they lent out the same amount of money in a similar loan, but at the current rate.

How do you decide which loans to sell?

In order to minimise the effect of the above mentioned credits, when you sell your loans we prioritise selling your youngest loans first. If the requested amount cannot be reached just using these loans, we will then start to transfer loans at a lower rate, starting with the smallest differences in rate.

You can sell loans that have previously been in arrears: however be aware that capital you receive for selling these types of loans may be less than you'd receive for loans that haven't ever been in arrears.

Some loans cannot be sold.

We can't guarantee you'll be able to access the full amount you've requested via this loan sale. Some of your loans may be ineligible for sale, or other investors may not be available to buy them at this time. If, after multiple attempts, we're unable to sell them we'll let you know we're taking the loans off the market, and you can choose to wait until they mature, or attempt to sell your eligible loans again another time.

How do I sell my loans?

You can sell your loans by signing into your Zopa lending account and selecting the 'Access my money' button.

How long will the sale take?

When you request to sell your loans we'll estimate how many loans you need to sell in order to reach this amount and display the estimated amount you'll receive, excluding any fees. In normal circumstances, we would expect to sell the estimated number of loans within a few days of the request. If demand is low or if your requested amount is very large then we'll continue to sell your loans for 20 working days until we reach the amount estimated. If we haven't sold enough loans to reach the amount requested after 20 working days you'll be notified by email. Whilst this is in progress your re-lending is disabled.

For successful loan sales, all interest accrued on the loan since the borrower's last repayment will also be passed on to the new lender.

Log in to My Zopa and navigate to your investment product. Select the Access your money button at the top of the page and follow the instructions on screen. The money should be back with you within 3 to 4 working days.

For security, we can only accept money from or send money to one designated bank account which you register with us when you sign up.

But we know that things can change, and there will be times when you need to update your bank details. To do this, log into your account click on your name in the top right corner. Select profile, scroll down to your bank details, press "Change bank details", and fill in the required information.

Once you've submitted your details, we'll run our usual checks to make sure everything's OK with your new info. Sometimes we'll need some more information from you (like a recent bank statement or proof of address) if we can't confirm your details on our systems. This is just to make sure your account is safe, and any withdrawals go to you.

You can always contact our Customer Services team as well who can help guide you through the process.

Log into your account and head to your Statements page. To the right of the headline you'll see a link to your latest tax statement.

If you need previous years' statements, give our Customer Services team a ring and they'll sort it for you.

Any loan which is not currently in arrears, default, or pending a repayment can be sold to other investors to free up funds for withdrawal (don't forget about the 1% loan sale fee for doing accessing money this way).

We sort everything out for you, so all you have to do is request how much of your loans you want to sell. We'll do everything we can to get you the amount you're after, but remember it's dependent on other investers being available to take your loans, as well as the conditions above.

There are some situations in which you're unable to use the loan sale process:

• If one of your borrowers is currently in a late status, you won't be able to pass on the loan to someone else.
• If we are in the process of collecting a repayment from one of your borrowers, we won't be able to transfer that loan straight away. However, once the repayment has been collected you can transfer it on, with the benefit of having received a little more interest.
• If there aren't enough available lenders to pass your loans on to.

For Zopa loans issued before the introduction of Safeguard in 2013:

• If the loan was made to the borrower via Zopa Listings (Zopa stopped offering new loans via Listings in July 2011).
• If you made the loan under your own Consumer Credit Licence (CCL). This is because your borrower(s) will have signed contracts with you that could only be taken over by new lenders with their own CCL. Not only does Zopa no longer facilitate lending under individual CCLs, but it wouldn't be a user-friendly experience for borrowers to be asked to re-sign new contracts with new lenders during the life of their loan. Of course, you will be able to transfer any loans you've made since revoking your Licence, subject to the criteria mentioned above.

To protect you from fraud, we need to validate your bank details, both when you initially sign up to invest with Zopa and if you ever change your nominated bank account with us.

We will ask for a full bank statement (dated within the last 3 months) with transactions showing your name, account number and sort code. This can be a scan, or a clear photograph taken with your phone.

We can only accept a scan or clear photo of a bank statement. The following are not valid submissions:

• Images of bank cards & cheque books
• Screen shots from banking app or internet banking
• Photographs of computer screens showing internet banking
• Account balances or Account summary pages

When you log into your account and view your investment summary, you'll see a high-level breakdown of your investment including total earnings to date.

For a more detailed look at your earnings, head to your Statements page for a month-by-month view of earnings, bad debt, bonuses, and recoveries.

For an even more detailed look month-by-month, download your monthly transactional statements (available at the bottom of your statements page).

And finally, for all the nitty-gritty details from your Zopa investment's lifespan, download your entire loan book from your loan book page (.csv format).

When loan customers make a monthly repayment, the capital and interest they pay must be divided across many different investors due to how we diversify funds.

We divide all repayments into micro-pennies, to 8 decimal places, which allows for a greater level of accuracy and fairness overall.

To report whole pence to you, we must then round these micro-pennies up or down. This creates small discrepancies against your Zopa Total.

Here's an example of a micro-penny repayment:

A loan customer makes a repayment of £105 of capital and interest combined. The £105 must then be divided across 62 investors who all contributed to the loan (let's assume each investor contributed the same amount of capital to the loan).

£105 / 62 = £1.6935483 per investor, which is credited to your account.

However, our reporting would round this down to £1.69 as the nearest whole pence.

Here's an example of a Zopa Total discrepancy:

An investor has £21.394 in Core and £30.7930 in Plus.

In the dashboard, we report to the nearest whole pence: £21.39 in Core, £30.79 in Plus, and a Zopa total of £52.19.

This is because £21.394 + £30.793 = £52.187 which rounds up to £52.19.

However, £21.39 + £30.79 = £52.18, so it appears as though the product totals don't add up to the Zopa total.

When loan customers make a monthly repayment, the capital and interest they pay must be divided across many different investors due to how we diversify funds.

We divide all repayments into micro-pennies, to 8 decimal places, which allows for a greater level of accuracy and fairness overall.

To report whole pence to you, we must then round these micro-pennies up or down. We always round the ISA allowance down, to avoid any over funding which would cause all funds to be sent back.

Here's an example of a micro-penny repayment:

A loan customer makes a repayment of £105 of capital and interest combined. The £105 must then be divided across 62 investors who all contributed to the loan (let's assume each investor contributed the same amount of capital to the loan).

£105 / 62 = £1.6935483 per investor, which is credited to your account.

However, our reporting would round this down to £1.69 as the nearest whole pence.

Here's an example of an ISA allowance discrepancy:

An investor has £1,000.499 in their ISA account.

In the dashboard, we report an ISA total of £1,000.50, and a remaining ISA allowance of £18,999.51.

This is because we round the ISA total down to £1,900.41 and subtract this from the original 2019/2020 allowance of £20,000.

If you turn off automatic reinvesting, then your repayments will go directly to holding. From here, you can decide if you want to reinvest your money or withdraw it: but remember that while in holding it doesn't earn any interest.

Automatic reinvesting gets switched off when you start a loan sale as well, so always remember to check your settings after your sale is complete or cancelled.

You can update these settings via your investment summary.

Just like our non-ISA investments. You invest in the same types of personal loans to the same types of borrowers. The ISA gets its own section in your online account, with its own holding account and product(s) table.

The ISA annual allowance for the 2019/2020 tax year is £20,000. This is the maximum amount of new money you can contribute to a single ISA or across multiple ISA types. You can also reinvest repayments from your loans without this counting towards your annual allowance.

If you try to transfer more than £20,000 of new funds into your Zopa ISA, Investor Services will contact you to advise that you've gone above the annual allowance and will let you know your options.

Should you go over your allowance across multiple ISAs in one tax year, it's best to get in touch with HMRC on its ISA helpline: 0300 200 3312 (Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm Saturday 8am to 4pm Sunday 9am to 5pm). They'll talk you through your options as it can take a bit of untangling depending on your situation.

Remember your allowance spans any cash ISA stocks and shares ISA or innovative finance ISA that you've subscribed to this year.

It's important to keep track of the total amount of new funds you've put into your ISAs. If you can have this information to hand when you speak to HMRC it'll help speed things along.

If you're 18 or older and a UK resident, you can.

HMRC asks all ISA providers to collect your NI number so they can track your ISA activity. They check that you haven't oversubscribed (paid in more than your tax-free allowance) or opened more than one of each type of ISA during the tax year.

When you open an ISA with us you will be issued a new, additional reference that is both unique and specific to your ISA account. You can fund your ISA by sending a payment to us from your bank using your new ISA reference as the transaction reference. Using the correct reference is very important as it's what we use to make sure your money goes to the right place. You can use online banking, telephone banking or send us a cheque.

At Zopa, we accept funds up until 6pm on April 5th. We set this cut-off to make sure you don't miss out on maximising your £20,000 tax-free ISA allowance. When you fund your IFISA, we receive payment files from the bank to notify us. These files are sent between 4am and 7pm. If we don't receive your payment within this window, we won't know about your funding until April 6th, so it will count towards next year's allowance. If you have any questions you can give us a call at 020 7291 8331

Not directly – it's not possible to wrap your active loans in an ISA as they are an existing asset. Current rules from HMRC only allow customers to use cash to fund an innovative finance ISA and create new loans.

As a result, your options to fund a Zopa ISA are:

• sell your existing loans and buy new ones within the ISA
• disable re-lending, gather repayment money in your holding account and move to your ISA from there
• transfer in cash from your bank account
• transfer in cash from an existing ISA held with another ISA manager

You can only contribute new funds to one IFISA each tax year, but you may hold multiple IFISAs from previous tax years.

You can move historic funds (balances in ISAs from previous tax years) into any of the IFISAs you hold at any time without affecting your annual allowance.

You must use the ISA transfer-in process – a specific form your provider can give you – to do this.

If you withdraw funds or close an ISA to move them over, they're seen as new funds and will be deducted from your allowance.

• You can open one of each type of ISA per tax year – this includes cash, stocks & shares and IFISAs (the 'IF' means 'innovative finance').
• You can hold multiple historic ISAs, but you can only subscribe your annual allowance to one of each type per tax year.

Example: If you have a cash ISA active from a previous tax year and open a new cash ISA in the new tax year, then you can only contribute your annual allowance to the new ISA.

• Any historical ISAs you hold can continue as they are, or you may consider transferring them to other providers. You can transfer from one type of ISA to another.

Example: If you have £8,000 held in a cash ISA from a previous year, you can transfer £6,000 to another cash ISA and £2,000 to a stocks & shares ISA. Even if these ISAs are new to you, they are not classed as 'new' as they have been funded by historical subscriptions, so you can still open a new cash or stock & shares ISA to allocate this year's annual allowance.

You can split your annual allowance across the three types of ISAs:

• cash
• stocks and shares
• innovative finance

Don't break the golden rule though: You can only fund one of each type of ISA each tax year.

Keep in mind that if you qualify for a help-to-buy or lifetime ISA, any subscriptions you make to them also count as part of your annual allowance.

Let's paint a picture of how this could work:

You hold three cash ISAs from previous years. You may fund one of them with some or all of your annual allowance. Or you can open a brand new cash ISA and fund that instead. You can then put any allowance you have left over in one stocks and shares ISA and/or one innovative finance ISA – no matter how many of those you hold too.

You can utilise both Core & Plus as long as the total amount you fund into them (and in combination with any other cash or stocks & shares ISAs you fund in this tax year) doesn't exceed the annual allowance of £20,000.

We've introduced an ISA-specific reference to help ensure we allocate your money to the right place.

No. All new money (ISA and non-ISA) goes into the same queues to be matched to borrowers. The only money that 'jumps to the front of the queues' is repayment money, which we prioritise over new money.

Yes. A help-to-buy ISA is classed as a cash ISA. Under the rules, you're allowed to open one cash ISA, one stocks and shares and one innovative finance ISA each year. Then you can split your annual allowance across the ISAs you open.

If you wish to withdraw money from your ISA, you will be able to do so by either selling loans to other investors or turning off auto relending. Your funds will build in your holding account for you to transfer to your bank. For any loan sale request we sell as much as possible over a 20-working day period. Turning off relending is a more gradual process as you must wait for loans to be repaid. Once your loans leave the ISA wrapper, they will no longer be eligible for tax-free interest.

The Zopa IFISA is flexible, which means that if you withdraw funds from your ISA, you can replace those funds into the same ISA, within the same tax year. You can only replace funds up to the amount that you withdraw.

The Zopa IFISA is flexible. This means that if you withdraw funds from your IFISA you have the option to replace them before the end of the tax year. If you do, the replacement funds won't count towards your annual allowance.

You don't need to declare any ISA interest, income or capital gains as the ISA Manager does this for you.

Yes, it can – interest earned on your regular investment account can count towards your PSA.

No, it doesn't. If a loan defaults in one tax year but is recovered in another, it simply adds back in to your IFISA balance.

The only exception is if you close your IFISA or transfer it to another provider. Then we'll need to pay the money into a non-ISA account so those funds will lose their ISA status.

Once you submit an ISA transfer form to us, we'll initiate the process with your existing provider, but it's up to them to administrate and send us the money.

HMRC has guidelines of 15 days for cash ISAs or 30 days for stocks & shares ISAs, but it may take longer. Read more about the ISA transfer in process.

As many as you like. They just need to be cash, stocks and shares or other innovative finance ISAs.

No. You can transfer all or part of your balances in other ISAs from previous years.

You can transfer an ISA as often as you like, whether it's from a previous tax year or the current one.

If you want to move an ISA you've opened this tax year to the same type of ISA with another provider, you must transfer the entire balance.

While HMRC has specified timescales for transferring cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs, they haven't issued timescales for IFISAs yet. This is because there is a bit more to do to move them.

The speed depends on how quickly we can find buyers for your loans in our secondary market.

Usually, this doesn't take too long at Zopa as your loans can be bought by new money and repayment money that's waiting to be lent out.

We can't transfer any loans in default or arrears so they will need to stay in a Zopa account.

When we get your transfer request, we'll sell as much as we can and transfer those funds to your new provider.

If you're transferring an ISA you opened in the current tax year, you must transfer as much as possible. We'll then move any loans in default or arrears into a non-ISA Zopa account while we work on recovery.

You will need to complete an ISA transfer form from the new ISA provider. They will contact us with your instruction and transfer funds accordingly.

You'll be able to stop it if your existing provider hasn't started the transfer yet. Give them a call and contact us on 020 7291 8331 as soon as possible.

Yes, you should fill out another form for the additional amount that you want to transfer to us – or alternatively, if we haven't already contacted your existing ISA Manager, we can cancel your transfer request and you can start a new form for the full amount.

Sure. We'll send you an email once we've registered your IFISA. When you get it, hop on to your online account to update your funding preference in there before we invest your funds.

This frustrates us too. But some ISA managers insist that the transfer form is hand-signed before they'll start the transfer. So in the interests of getting the job done, we're sticking to the paper system for now.

Yes. When we receive your funds, you're able to log into your account and share the funds between Core and Plus.

Sorry, we operate on a first come, first served basis to balance supply and demand. Please only send us the form when you're happy for the transfer to take place.

To move your IFISA to Zopa, just fill in our ISA transfer in form – available online when you sign up for an investor account with us.

Not just yet. Right now, only cash and/or stocks and shares can be held in a Lifetime ISA.

The loans your money is invested in are a contract between you and the borrower. A third-party administrator would take over the servicing of the loans. This administrator would also be an ISA manager so your investment would still be treated as an IFISA.

You wouldn't be able to add more funds into the Zopa IFISA and your borrower's repayments wouldn't be reinvested in more loans. As your borrowers repay you would be able to withdraw the funds or transfer them to another ISA provider.

Here's what we do if you hold a Zopa IFISA with us when you pass away:

We'll ask to see a Death Certificate from an executor to confirm the date of your death – then we'll treat this date as the date your ISA ended.

There will be no Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax to pay up to that date, but ISA investments will form part of your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes.

The loan contracts that make up your ISA still stand but the benefit passes first to the estate of the deceased and then, if appropriate, on to the ultimate beneficiary. The value of the portfolio is calculated on the date of death as the total capital outstanding plus any funds not yet loaned out. Once Zopa are informed and sent a certified copy of the death certificate we would stop the account from lending more funds and provide details of the account to the administrator or executor. Before any financial changes can be made to the account we would require a certified copy of the Grant of Probate for our records.

Zopa will continue to recover repayments and interest earned on existing loans for the benefit of the deceased lenders estate, until we are permitted to distribute the funds as instructed by the executor, which can be monthly, quarterly etc as agreed with the executor. This process continues until the outstanding loans are fully repaid or otherwise come to an end. Be aware the continuing receipt of interest on existing loans may give rise to a tax liability and the executor will need to address this with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs or other tax authority as appropriate. Unfortunately, we cannot recover funds that are still on loan to borrowers and not due to be repaid yet; in order to retrieve these funds, the executor, administrator or ultimate beneficiary would need to allow the repayments to accrue within the holding account, before withdrawal.

There is an option to sell the portfolio of loans, for a 1% fee, rather than wait for them to be repaid over time. This can be done through our Rapid Return facility although there are certain restrictions to this policy, which can be found here. If the executor wishes to utilise the Rapid Return facility, upon receipt of satisfactory evidence and compliance with any other Zopa requirements, the personal representative will be permitted to utilise the Rapid Return facility on behalf of the account holder's estate. The standard conditions for this facility apply and any loans that cannot be transferred will continue to run their course; the representative will have access to the funds as and when they are available.

Zopa is unable to change the name on a lender's account as the agreement itself cannot be transferred into another individual's name. A lender is however able to make a request in their Will to leave the funds in their Zopa account and proceeds to a particular individual, although this will be subject to the laws of probate. The important things to consider are how they want the available funds at the date of death to be administered as well as any monies not yet due, i.e. capital outstanding on active loan contracts and the expected interest and repayments on them.

In both cases the more explicit the instructions the better (i.e. who the recipients are and how much each should receive) as we have a duty to act in strict accordance with the individual's Will. In order to meet your wishes, we would simply require the appropriate documentation from your nominated solicitor to carry out these requests. Once probate is completed and we have the relevant documentation we would then deal directly with the beneficiary.

It's easy to close your Zopa account, as long as you have no active loans or money currently invested with us:

1. Go to our contact form.
2. Select 'Account closure' from the menu.
3. Enter your details and send us a message.
4. We'll close your account and email you to confirm when it's done.

An inbox tidy-up. Good idea.

To unsubscribe from marketing emails: sign into your Zopa account, head to your personal details, edit your contact preferences, and remember to save your changes.

Or just click the 'unsubscribe' link in the footer of one of our marketing emails.

You'll still continue to get service emails and legal updates from us, so we can keep you up to speed on the important stuff.

We conform to all UK data protection laws, and we take your security seriously.

We will never share any information other than what's necessary for Zopa to function as a financial marketplace.

Please see our Zopa Principles for all the details including:

• What information you'll need to provide when you sign up to Zopa.
• How we use this information.
• What information will be made available to other customers or third parties.
• How and when we'll contact you.

We'll ask you to read and agree to the Zopa Principles when you sign up.

Yes. On your dashboard you'll find a button called 'Refer a friend'. This generates your own personal link to share with friends and family either directly or via your social media channels.

You can share your link as many times as you like. And when someone you invite opens an account and funds £2,000, you'll both get a £50 bonus as a thank you from us.

We hope it never happens, but it's sensible to have a plan in place.

If the worst happens, a third-party would step in and continue to run the loans you're invested in. They get paid from the loan servicing fee, so your investment runs as normal.

We have no claim over your money, as your loan contract is between you and the borrower. So while you won't be able to automatically reinvest or buy any new loans, your repayments of capital and interest will continue as normal each month until the loan matures.

Zopa has been providing secured car finance to our loans customers since 2017 and opened them up to our retail investors in June 2019.

These loans are in many ways similar to the unsecured personal loans we’ve always offered. Borrowers receive a set amount and then pay it back, plus interest, over a fixed period. The key difference is that the loan is a hire purchase agreement, under which the lender owns the vehicle until the borrower has paid back the loan. This means that if the person borrowing the money defaults, we can repossess and then sell the car, subject to meeting the conditions detailed in the Consumer Credit Act.

You can identify a secured car loan in your loanbook by looking for loans in the ‘A-Sec’ or 'B-Sec' markets (standing for A-Secured and B-Secured). They’re given that label because we expect these loans to have similar default rates to our unsecured personal loans in risk markets A and B.

These are the four main differences between secured car loans and unsecured personal loans:

In the event of default, we expect to recover more from secured car loans than we do on unsecured personal loans, because the loan is secured against the car.

A secured car loan is classed as defaulted after 3 months of missed payments, as opposed to 4 months on an unsecured personal loan.

With secured car loans, we pay introducers a commission to originate the loan. Zopa pays this commission up front and recoups it through the loan servicing fee which is why there might be a larger difference between the investor rate and the borrower rate than you’d see on an unsecured personal loan.

We class secured car loans as being in either the ‘A-Secured’ or 'B-Secured' risk markets. That’s because we expect these loans to have similar default rates to our unsecured personal loans in risk markets A and B.

• Because of the unique portfolio of loans each investor is matched to, there will always be variance in performance between investors. We set you up to reach a target return, but in practice you could finish above or below that depending on how your individual loans perform. This is why we've decided to switch to a range as we believe it's a more accurate indicator of where you'll end up.
• The size of the range is decided by looking at your individual loan book and combining this information with the historical returns of all investors in Core and Plus who have followed the investment behaviour which we typically see leading to the best results. So, that means they have invested for more than 3 years and have reinvestment turned on. We found that 90% of investors will have their return fall within this range if they use Zopa in this way.

This is simply because every investor has a unique portfolio of loans, so the actual projected return you get is also unique. It could also be because you've invested at times when we had a different target return. All of this means you could end up higher or lower than the advertised website rate.

Your actual performance can still fall outside of your projected return range. This can be the result of a change in the way you use Zopa, for example if you turned off reinvestments or sold some of your loans. Or it would be due to external factors, like a change in the wider economy, which has led to significantly different credit conditions affecting borrowers' ability to repay their loans.

Yes, if you have reinvestment turned on, your money will be matched to loans originated at different times. This can lead to a change in your projected return range as these loans will be set at our latest rates, which reflect current market conditions.

We’ve partnered with two major credit reference agencies, TransUnion and Equifax, to calculate your Borrowing Power. We look at your credit usage, credit score, credit limits, number of hard searches and your disposable income. Then we use that data to determine your 1-10 Borrowing Power rating.

Your Borrowing Power is a 1-10 rating exclusive to Zopa. It shows you exactly how creditworthy you look to us and what rate you could get from us. It’s made up of your credit score and more, and it helps you to understand whether you’ll be accepted by us, and what loan rate you could get.

On the other hand, your credit score is a more general number and gives you a rough idea of how creditworthy you look to lenders. It’s calculated by credit reference agencies and it’s often different, depending on which agency you check it with.

Only Borrowing Power can tell you exactly what Zopa loans you’re eligible for.

No, it won’t affect your credit score. If you check your credit report elsewhere, you’ll see a soft search from Zopa every month which won't impact your ability to get credit.

The only time you’ll see a hard search on your credit report is if you apply for a loan in your eligibility tab.

No. Borrowing Power is only valid for Zopa loans and doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a similar loan with another lender. We wanted to make your Borrowing Power as accurate as possible, and by tailoring it to Zopa loans only, we’re able to give you guaranteed interest rates before you apply.

Yes, you can unsubscribe at any time. In the Borrowing Power section of your Zopa app, go to “Manage” and “Unsubscribe from Borrowing Power”. You can also change your contact preferences if you don’t want to receive emails but want to keep using Borrowing Power.

Using smart tech that we’ve built at Zopa, we can identify what actions could improve your Borrowing Power. We only show you actions that could boost it significantly and they’re 100% tailored to you. It’s worth pointing out that we can’t guarantee those actions will improve your Borrowing Power and we can’t control what actions you take elsewhere.

Your Borrowing Power, as well as the actions, get refreshed every 28 days. The quote you see in the Eligibility section is refreshed every 7 days.

The rates you see are guaranteed. We may still perform additional checks for which we would need you to provide additional documents to verify your identity, bank account or income. If you fail those checks then your loan application may be declined.

You might not meet our lending criteria right now, however Borrowing Power can tell you what you need to do to work towards a ‘yes’ next time. We refresh your Borrowing Power every 28 days so keep checking back to see how you’re doing.

Although we use two credit reference agencies to calculate your Borrowing Power, Equifax is the main agency. So, if you can’t get your Borrowing Power, it’s because Equifax can’t find your details. It’s usually because the details you used to register with us are different to those Equifax holds. The best thing to do is to get in touch with them and check your details. You can contact Equifax here. Afterwards, it’s worth checking your details with us too.

There could be a few reasons for this. To find out more, click “Overview” and take a look at any sections that say “OK” or “Bad”.

We get your credit score from Equifax. If you think it’s wrong, you can raise a dispute with Equifax by clicking here.

We’ve partnered with two major credit reference agencies, TransUnion and Equifax, to calculate your Borrowing Power. It can take a while for credit reference agencies to see the changes you’ve made, and any action usually takes around 3 months to be reflected in your Borrowing Power. Just so you know, we can’t 100% guarantee that your actions will improve your Borrowing Power and we can’t control what actions you take elsewhere.

We change our pricing regularly. That means the interest rate for someone with a good Borrowing Power might not be the same today as what they got previously with the same Borrowing Power rating.

To make a complaint or get in touch with us for other reasons, click here.