£100 loans, apply online

£100 loans

£100 is the smallest amount you can apply for. Here is what a loan this size really costs, why people use it, and cheaper alternatives worth checking first.

Written by the Dot Dot Loans editorial team and reviewed by Paul Gillooly

Director, Dot Dot Loans

4 min readLast reviewed July 2026

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Soft search · won't affect your credit score

A hard credit search is only carried out when you formally apply to a lender which can affect your credit score.

Representative APR 79.5% (Variable). Rates from 48.1% APR to 1721% APR.

At £100, the useful question is less about which lender and more about whether borrowing is the cheapest way to cover the gap. This page sets out what £100 costs over different terms, the legal limits on what you can be charged, and the cheaper options worth ruling out first. Dot Dot Loans is a credit broker, not a lender: the lender sets the rate and makes the decision.

When borrowing £100 makes sense

It can make sense if

The cost is a one-off with a deadline, such as an emergency call-out or a bill that will add charges if it is paid late

You know exactly which pay or income will cover each repayment

You have checked the cheaper options below and none of them will arrive in time

Think again if

You are short by a similar amount most months. A loan moves the gap to next month and adds interest

You already have other short-term loans running

You would need to borrow again to make the repayments

What £100 costs over 3 to 12 months

Small amounts are usually repaid over a few months. The longer the term, the lower each payment, but the interest builds up quickly compared with the £100 you borrowed.

Example repayments on £100

Illustration only

Term

Monthly

Total repayable

3 months

£37.10

£111.30

6 months

£20.05

£120.30

9 months

£14.41

£129.69

12 months

£11.63

£139.56

Figures assume a representative 79.5% APR and are for illustration only. Your actual rate depends on the lender and your circumstances.

Going from 3 months to 12 cuts the monthly payment from £37.10 to £11.63, but takes the interest from £11.30 to £39.56. These figures use our representative rate. The rate you are actually offered depends on the lender and your circumstances, and rates on our panel run from 48.1% APR to 1721% APR, so check the total amount repayable in the lender's pre-contract information before you sign.

Representative Example: Borrow £1,000 over 18 months. 18 monthly repayments of £89.22. Total amount repayable: £1,605.96. Interest: £605.96. Annual interest rate: 59.97% (fixed). Subject to application approval by the lender. Not all lenders offer loans up to £5,000. Representative APR 79.5% (Variable). Any representative monthly repayment shown is for illustration only, based on our representative APR. Your actual repayments will be confirmed by the matching lender if your application is approved.

The legal limits on what £100 can cost

Loans with an APR of 100% or more that are due to be repaid within 12 months count as high-cost short-term credit. The FCA caps the cost of these loans. On £100, the caps work out like this:

Interest and fees cannot be more than 0.8% a day of the amount you still owe. On £100 that is 80p a day, or no more than £24 over 30 days.
If you pay late, default fees are capped at £15 in total, and interest on the unpaid amount cannot be charged at more than the original rate.
Interest, fees and charges added together can never come to more than the £100 you borrowed, so the most you could ever repay is £200.

The cap is a ceiling, not a target. A loan that reaches it is still an expensive way to borrow £100.

What small loans are used for

Applications for small amounts are mostly about essentials. In the first half of 2026, seven in ten applications made through us for £100 to £300 were for utility bills or emergency cash.

Why people applied for £100 to £300

Borrowing Barometer · H1 2026

Utility bills42.2%

Emergency cash30.1%

Home improvement10.9%

Vehicle10.6%

Debt consolidation3.2%

Special occasion2.9%

Source: Dot Dot Loans Borrowing Barometer 2026.1. Stated purpose of the 67,891 applications for £100 to £300 made through dotdotloans.co.uk between 1 January and 30 June 2026.

If your £100 is for an energy bill, speak to your supplier before you borrow. Under Ofgem rules, suppliers have to take your ability to pay into account when they agree a repayment plan, and some run hardship funds that do not need to be paid back.

Cheaper ways to find £100

An arranged overdraft. Banks now charge a single interest rate with no daily fees, and some offer a small interest-free buffer. For a few weeks, this can cost less than a loan.
A credit union loan. Credit unions are not-for-profit, and the interest they can charge is capped by law well below most short-term lenders. Some will lend amounts this small to members.
A salary advance or earned wage access scheme, if your employer offers one.
A Budgeting Advance, if you get Universal Credit. It is interest-free and repaid from your Universal Credit payments. You usually need to have been claiming for at least six months.
Local crisis support. In Scotland, apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund through your council; in Wales, to the Discretionary Assistance Fund; in Northern Ireland, to Discretionary Support. In England, many councils run their own local welfare scheme.

Warning signs at this size

You are asked to pay a fee before the money is released. That is a common sign of loan fee fraud. We do not charge you a fee, and a genuine lender will not ask for one upfront.
You are offered more than you asked for. Borrow the £100 you need, not the larger sum on offer.
You are encouraged to extend or roll over the loan. Lenders cannot roll over high-cost short-term credit more than twice, and each extension adds cost.
A lender keeps trying to take payment from your card. On high-cost short-term credit, a lender can make no more than two failed attempts to collect a payment by continuous payment authority, and you can cancel that authority by contacting your bank or card provider.

Related guides

Small loans: how small loans work and what to compare
Are payday loans bad?: the risks of very short-term borrowing
£200 loans: costs and a ten-minute affordability check

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth borrowing £100?

Only if it is a one-off cost that cannot wait and you have ruled out cheaper options. On a small amount, the interest is high compared with what you borrow, and an arranged overdraft, a credit union or a payment plan with the company you owe can cost less.

How much interest would I pay on a £100 loan?

At our representative 79.5% APR, about £11.30 over 3 months or £39.56 over 12 months (illustration only). If the loan is high-cost short-term credit, interest and fees together can never come to more than £100.

Can I borrow £100 if I'm on Universal Credit?

Some lenders accept benefit income, but they still have to check the repayments are affordable. If you have been claiming Universal Credit for six months or more, ask about an interest-free Budgeting Advance first.

What happens if I can't repay £100 on time?

Contact the lender before the payment date. Lenders must treat customers in financial difficulty with forbearance, which can mean a revised payment plan. Missed payments can be recorded on your credit file, and on high-cost short-term credit, default fees are capped at £15. Free help is available from MoneyHelper.

Will repaying a small loan improve my credit score?

Repaying on time adds positive history to your credit file, but it is not a reliable way to build credit, and some mortgage lenders look less favourably on recent short-term borrowing. Each formal application also leaves a hard search on your file.