Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose money. This is a high-risk investment. You may not be able to access your money easily and are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2mins to learn more.

Estimated reading time: 2 min

Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.

What are the key risks?

You could lose the money you invest

Many peer-to-peer (P2P) loans are made to borrowers who can’t borrow money from traditional lenders such as banks. These borrowers have a higher risk of not paying you back.
Advertised rates of return aren’t guaranteed. If a borrower doesn’t pay you back as agreed, you could earn less money than expected. A higher advertised rate of return means a higher risk of losing your money.
These investments can be held in an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA). An IFISA does not reduce the risk of the investment or protect you from losses, so you can still lose all your money. It only means that any potential gains from your investment will be tax free.

You are unlikely to get your money back quickly

Some P2P loans last for several years. You should be prepared to wait for your money to be returned even if the borrower repays on time.
Some platforms may give you the opportunity to sell your investment early through a ‘secondary market’, but there is no guarantee you will be able to find someone willing to buy.
Even if your agreement is advertised as affording early access to your money, you will only get your money early if someone else wants to buy your loan(s). If no one wants to buy, it could take longer to get your money back.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.

The P2P platform could fail

If the platform fails, it may be impossible for you to collect money on your loan. It could take years to get your money back, or you may not get it back at all. Even if the platform has plans in place to prevent this, they may not work in a disorderly failure.

You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover investments in P2P loans. You may be able to claim if you received regulated advice to invest in P2P, and the adviser has since failed. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated platform, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.

If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.

For further information about peer-to-peer lending (loan-based crowdfunding), visit the FCA’s website here.

Lend against luxury assets

Earn up to 10.2% pa

Invest in short term loans (typically 6 months) and earn 0.85% per month (IFISA eligible).

Proven track record

Successfuly operating since 2015, with established valuation and disposal capabilities.

Assets held in possession

Loans are secured by luxury assets held in Unbolted's possession.

Remember that your capital is at risk with no FSCS protection. Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns and we cannot guarantee that security on the loan will cover full capital and interest.

Open a classic account Open an IFISA account

Unbolted - lend against luxury assets

Secured loans - earn 10.2% pa

Unbolted is a peer-to-peer lending platform with a difference - lower risk, with loans secured by pawned assets held in possession. The traditional pawnbroking model reimagined.

Loans are made for short terms against luxury assets, which are conservatively valued and carefully underwritten. LTVs range from 40% (on wine) to 80% (on gold), depending on underlying asset liquidity and ability to hedge price volatility.

All loans earn 0.85% per month in interest, paid semi-annually.

See Loan Performance

Auto Lend

Unbolted’s Autolend is our solution for easy investment and risk diversification for the time constrained lender. Most of our loans on the platform are fully distributed through automatic lending instructions.

Sale Advance Loans

In partnership with auction houses, Unbolted advances 40% to 50% of the low auction estimate of an asset consigned for sale with an auction house.

What if Unbolted were to go out of business?

As a P2P lending platform that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, we are required to have a ‘wind-down plan’ in place that would set out what would happen if either we decided to strategically exit the business, or an unexpected event meant we were unable to operate our platform.

Our wind-down plan aims to enable us to cease our regulated activities and achieve cancellation of our regulatory permissions in an orderly manner, with minimal adverse impact on our customers (lenders and borrowers) and other stakeholders.

Our wind-down plan allows us to identify with confidence, that we have adequate resources (both financial and non-financial) in place to wind down the services in an orderly manner, especially under potentially challenging circumstance.

We consider that we are best placed to manage the wind-down of the services in the best interests of our customers; managed in-house by existing staff, using existing systems, processes and infrastructure; and with the same regulatory rules and requirements that the platform currently operates within.

To ensure that there are sufficient financial resources available to wind-down the business without disruption, we

keep cash segregated in a separate bank account, to be made available only in a wind-down scenario – sufficient to cover all immediate liquidity requirements at wind-down; and
regularly monitor the amount of platform fees due from the existing loan book (net of expected losses), such that together with the segregated cash and other available liquid resources, it is sufficient to cover all costs of winding-down the business.

Our wind-down plan is reviewed on an annual basis and is also subject to ongoing review to reflect any material changes in our business or operating model.

Risk warning: No recourse to FSCS

Remember that with peer-to-peer lending, your capital is at risk. Peer-to-peer lending platforms are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).