Bank or credit union · United Kingdom

first direct vs Halifax: total repayable, not the headline APR

Best case on £10,000 over 36 months, first direct costs £10,911 to repay and Halifax £11,142 — a difference of £232 over the term.

Worst case — the top of each published range — the order holds: first direct £12,913 against Halifax £14,590.

Side by side

Both columns use the published APR range and fee range of each lender, computed on the same loan.

£10,000 over 36 months, United Kingdom. Sources: first direct checked 2026-08-25 and Halifax checked 2026-08-25.
	first direct	Halifax
Lowest published APR	5.90% representative	7.40% representative
Highest published APR	18.90%	29.90%
Origination fee	not stated	not stated
Loan amounts	£1,000 to £50,000	£1,000 to £50,000
Terms	12 to 96 months	12 to 84 months
You sign for, worst fee	£10,000	£10,000
Monthly, best case	£303.07	£309.50
Total repayable, best case	£10,911	£11,142
Monthly, worst case	£358.70	£405.29
Total repayable, worst case	£12,913	£14,590
Total repayable, best case, 60 months	£11,529	£11,926
Owner	not confirmed	not confirmed

How that is worked out

amount received = the amount you want in your account (10,000 on most pages) amount signed for = amount received / (1 - origination fee %) monthly rate = APR / 12 (United States) or (1 + APR)^(1/12) - 1 (United Kingdom) monthly payment = amount received x monthly rate / (1 - (1 + monthly rate)^(-months)) total repayable = monthly payment x months cost of credit = total repayable - amount received cost per 1,000 = cost of credit / (amount received / 1,000)

Nothing else is added. The APR already includes the origination fee by law in both markets, so the payment is worked out on the amount you actually receive, at the APR, over the term — which is exactly how the lender's own representative example is built. The fee shows up as the larger amount you sign for, and the interest on it is inside the APR. Late fees, optional insurance and early-settlement charges are not in any figure on this site, because they depend on what happens after you sign. Best case uses the lowest published APR and the lowest published fee; worst case the highest of each. The full method is at Method.

Where does the answer change?

The ranking above holds only under the conditions listed here.

Your credit does not change the ranking here. first direct is cheaper at both ends of the published ranges, so the question is not where you sit in them.
Do not decide yet until you hold both offers: first direct stays ahead only if the APR it actually offers you is below 7.40% — Halifax's published floor, which is the point where its £11,142 best-case total is matched on this loan. An offer above that number reverses this page.

Who this is not for

This compares published ranges and nothing else. It is not a judgment about service, approval odds or speed, and we have not borrowed from either. If the two totals are close, this page will not decide it for you and should not.

Sources

first direct rates page. checked 2026-08-25
Halifax rates page. checked 2026-08-25

Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.