Not sure what to do regarding loan - advice needed

[Whattodo112222]

Hi all.
About a year ago, I took out a 5k loan - I was offered a higher APR (think 15% ish) via Lloyds bank (the bank I bank with) and took the loan as I needed to buy a new (used) car as my car had died and pay off a credit card in full. I am now paying this loan off monthly but feel I am being somewhat crippled by the interest.. I pay around £140 a month off but get charged around £80 a month in interest. I had a fair credit rating when taking this loan out which has taken a long time and a lot of effort to get to following an ex partner getting me into a lot of debt (my own stupid fault).
Anyway, I have now got 2 options since my credit rating has rocketed following the keeping up with payments, paying off a credit card in full every month and also staying below 30% of my credit utilisation and also being registered on the electoral roll. My credit score is now excellent.

I have been offered a loan at a significantly lower APR (6%) from Santander and also offered a credit limit of £11,000 on a credit card with Lloyds bank with a lower APR than the loan I am currently paying.

Should I take either of these and clear the balance of the Lloyds loan and start again at a lower APR? I feel the loan is the best bet as if I take the credit card it will be almost £5k immediately taken from the credit card.

I also worry about another hard search on my credit report.

If anyone could advise then I would be really grateful as currently feel stuck.

Have you factored in the cost of repaying the Lloyds loan early? There's usually a penalty, as the lender is losing money.
Nothing more to add other than I'd stay away from credit cards if I were you. It's too easy to not pay and build up a lot of interest that needs to be repaid, or to use the card for other items you can't afford.

How many months do you have left on the existing loan, and how many months is the new loan over? They should be the same to get a true idea of how much you will save in interest.

I have 44 out of 60 months months left over the existing loan term, new loan term would be 48 months.

I have asked what the settlement figure would be also..

You could also try asking your current lender, Lloyds if they will consider refinancing the loan at better terms. This might reduce any fees associated with early repayment, and make it cheaper than moving lender.

I was going to say this. I managed to get NatWest to lower the APR to zero on my son’s loan for three months when he was struggling and then they gave him a lower APR for the remainder. I think it went from something like 9% to 4%. They want to keep you as a customer. You have to be extremely persistent and persuasive and basically tell them that you’ll be leaving even if it means exit fees. If they say no, tell them you’ll have to ‘think about it’ and call back in a few days.