Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Carmoola is the new way to pay for or refinance a used car. In just 3 simple steps, you'll find out your budget, run a free history check on your car, and then be ready to pay online or at the showroom.

Carmoola provides Hire Purchase car finance, which means you can buy your car now, and pay it back monthly over 1 to 5 years.

Already got car finance? See if we can get you a better deal 😎

To get started, download the Carmoola app and start your application!

Yes! You can use Carmoola to refinance your existing loan. All you need to do is follow the steps in the app to see how much you can save. It's super easy to do and you can refinance the same day if you'd like!

To speed things up, make sure to grab an Early Settlement Quote from your existing lender 🕺

Carmoola is a direct-to-consumer lender, you'll deal with us for the duration of your loan. We're authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, you can find our firm details on their website, under Carmoola Limited.

If you want to know more about what our customers think of us, check out our Trustpilot reviews ⭐️

To complete your application with Carmoola, you'll need to add your driving licence. We can accept some international driving licences, provided they have the security measures we require. The best way to find out if it will work is to try!

Currently, we cannot accept passports, international ID cards, or provisional driving licences.

Yes you can still be rejected. If you've been pre-approved on a comparison site, this means that we guarantee that rate and budget for you, based on the information you have provided so far. As with all other lenders, this offer is still conditional and we will carry out additional checks such as fraud, identity, income verification and responsible lender checks.

The vast majority of customers who receive a pre-approved offer will go on to be 100% approved after they come through to Carmoola. If you are one of the customers we sadly can't help at this stage, rest assured we have only run a "soft credit check", meaning your credit score will not have been impacted, and you're free to apply with other lenders.

Your budget and rate are locked in for 30 days, from the date you first get a budget. Once you sign your agreements, we'll also give you an additional 7 days to complete the purchase.

You can see in the app exactly how much time until your application expires.

If your application expires, you'll need to start the process again and it's important to note that we cannot guarantee the same rate and budget as before. We will review your creditworthiness and affordability again.

If you decide you don't want to take your loan up with us, that's no problem. If you haven't signed your loan agreement yet then we will have only run a "soft credit search", which means your credit score won't be affected.

If you've paid for the car, please let us know so we can provide you with details regarding your options.

If you also want to delete your account, open the app and tap on your initials on the top left. Scroll to the bottom and tap on Close and Delete My Account. Please note, if you have an active loan with Carmoola then you cannot delete your account.

All you need to do is add your payment details and then you can proceed to checkout. If you're buying in a local dealership, you'll need to tap on Pay By Bank Transfer to send the payment to the dealership.

If you've already seen and test driven the car, we'd recommend paying by bank transfer at least 24 hours before you're hoping to collect it, so everything runs smoothly on collection day.

If you're buying online, please reveal the Carmoola card details and use it like it's your own debit card.

We have a list of over 8,000 approved dealerships across the UK, which we've reviewed against some strict criteria.

If you'd like to buy from a dealership that's not on our list, please send us the name and website of the dealership so we can review them. If the dealership meets our criteria, we'll get them added to the app in a matter of minutes. We don't currently work with private sellers.

Used cars (no vans, motorbikes or new cars) 

Less than 100,000 miles on the clock

Petrol, diesel (from Sept 2015 only), hybrid or electric cars

Less than 12 years old by the end of your agreement

Cars sold at one of our approved dealerships (no private sellers, unfortunately)

We also run a full history check to ensure the car has no other issues such as being written off, marked as stolen, or other things that will negatively impact its value.

Yes, we're here to help you pay for your car every day, between 8am and 9pm.

If you're buying a car online you can simply follow the checkout flow and buy your car at any time.

If you're buying at a local dealership you should be aware of a few things: Some dealerships do not have their finance team available to confirm receipt of payments on the weekends, so you may have to wait until Monday.

Some dealerships will need a day or two to prepare the car and run final checks on it before you can drive it away.

Some dealerships may want you to see the car before buying it, and we'd recommend this too so you can make sure it lives up to your expectations.

Where possible, we'd recommend paying by bank transfer at least 24 hours before you're hoping to collect the car, so there are no delays.

If you're buying from a dealership, we recommend viewing and test driving the car before you pay for it. Make sure that you are happy with the condition, and you've identified any issues to be resolved by the dealership before you pay for the car.

If you've made any arrangements with the dealership, make sure you have these in writing. The dealership should give you the new keeper slip, and if you've purchased or been given a warranty with the vehicle make sure you get copies of the paperwork from the dealership.

You should always check the dealership's returns policy and any reviews from customers who have purchased from them previously.

Yes, you can make overpayments in the app. Go to the 4th tab and tap 'One-Off Payment'. Once you've made more than 2 months worth of overpayments we'll get in touch and give you the option to either reduce your monthly payment moving forwards or to reduce the length of your loan.

If you make a large enough overpayment in the app, you can choose how you'd like to apply it yourself.

Please remember, overpayments are over and above your normal monthly repayments.

If you're not happy with the car and want to return it then you'll need to speak directly to the dealership or website you bought it from.

Dealerships have varying policies on returns/refunds so please check with them first. If you paid by bank transfer at a local dealership, please arrange for the dealership to return the funds directly to us. We can provide you with bank details for this and if the dealership needs an email confirmation from us we are happy to do this too.

If you paid for your car using the virtual card online, then once you arrange the return/refund the funds will usually be transferred directly back to us.

It can take several days for dealerships to process your refund, but once we receive the funds back we will undo your loan (as if it never happened) and you can start your application from scratch again, and find another car.

Please be aware that when you start your application again we will run all our checks again, so if something has changed in your affordability or credit profile then this could affect the rate and or budget you may be offered.

You should let us know immediately, and let your insurer know that the vehicle is owned by us. We'll provide you with an Early Settlement letter which you must share with your insurance company. They will make the payment for the car directly to us using the details in the letter we'll provide you with.

If you have any payments due in the meantime you are required to continue making them. Once we've received the funds, we'll get in touch.

If the amount we receive from them is more than the settlement figure, we'll refund you the difference. If we receive less, you'll need to send us the outstanding balance to settle your loan.

1. Hard close and re-open the app
2. Delete and re-install the app
3. Check your WiFi, 4G or 5G network strength

You can manage your communication preferences in the app, or by clicking the link at the bottom of any email we send you.

Some email communications from Carmoola are mandatory because they relate to important information about your account, and you cannot unsubscribe from those.

If you've applied for car finance through us, or on a comparison site such as Compare the Market or MoneySuperMarket, etc, we may have completed a "soft credit search" on your credit file to see if we can offer you a budget for your next car. If you haven't, and you're concerned someone has applied using your details, please contact our support team who can help further.