Carmoola

Carmoola, digital car finance in the UK

Carmoola is a car finance provider operating in the UK through its own app. Its approach focuses on managing the entire process—application, budget calculation, vehicle selection and payment—digitally, with no sales calls or paperwork. The company presents itself as the direct lender of the loan, which it says allows it to give applicants a direct answer.

How the application works

The process starts with an eligibility check and obtaining a budget, which the company says takes about 60 seconds and has no impact on the user's credit score. From there, the customer can adjust the deposit, monthly payment and loan term in real time. The app lets users browse a catalogue of over 77,600 vehicles from its network of trusted dealerships, run free car history checks and complete the review and payment within the app. Signing and delivery are also handled digitally, whether the purchase is made in person or remotely.

Finance options

• Hire Purchase (HP): the cost of the car is spread over an agreed term and the customer becomes the owner of the vehicle after the final payment. The company states loan amounts of up to £40,000 and the possibility of a zero deposit.
• Personal Contract Purchase (PCP): a flexible agreement with a lower monthly payment than HP; at the end, the customer can return the car, pay to keep it or trade it in for another. It advertises up to £55,000 per loan and up to £15,000 additional borrowing compared with an HP agreement.
• Refinancing: allows you to replace an existing finance agreement with a new one with another lender, keeping the same car. The company says the switch takes just one day and mentions average monthly savings of £200, calculated from a sample of 1,378 customers who refinanced with Carmoola.

The site includes finance and early settlement calculators, as well as an eligibility checker tool.

Stated financial terms

Finance is offered at a representative fixed annual rate of 14.9%, subject to affordability checks. The company states that it does not charge arrangement fees or early repayment charges, and that the only additional charge is a £1 option to purchase fee. It also says it does not charge dealerships commissions, which it says results in a lower cost for the customer. The catalogue shows an example loan of £12,500 over 48 months with a payment of £267 for 47 months and an optional final payment of £5,001.

Additional services and dealership network

The company offers Carmoola Plus, a rolling monthly membership that covers unexpected mechanical and electrical breakdowns. It also has a depreciation index comparing which models hold their value best, a free tool to check your car's value and a network of trusted dealerships that businesses can join to access the platform's customers. It publishes guides on HP, PCP, leasing, refinancing, HPI checks and accessing finance with a poor credit history, among other topics.

History and structure

Carmoola was founded in 2020, according to its account, after one of its co-founders struggled to get clear information about car finance. The company says it has over £146 million in funding, a team of more than 50 people and millions of loan applications processed. Its founding team comprises Aidan Rushby (CEO), Amy Rushby (product), Roman Sumnikov (tech) and Igor Gordiichuk (tech). The company says it has served over 20,000 UK drivers and presents itself as the highest-rated car finance app in the country, with a score of 4.9 out of 5 based on over 4,000 verified reviews.

Customer service

The UK-based support team is online every day from 8:00 to 20:00, and the company states that chat is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Location and contact

Email: support@carmoola.co.uk