rebuildingsociety.com Reviews 50

No problems throughout the 5 years of my Loan agreement with Rebuildingsociety.
I wish them well in the future!

I visited Sheffield recently and saw on the side of several buses an advertisement for an educational supplier I lent money to in its early days maybe 10 years ago on Rebs.
That really made my day. Not only was it a good loan, all repaid on time, but it's helped the owner as well !

I have been investing with Rebs for 9 years. This is a p2p investment site that allows access to loans to small businesses. The risk-worthyness of each business and level of security they offer against each loan is reflected in the interest rate on offer. Loans paying interest of 20%p.a have little security, loans at 13% are better secured. I have invested in a lot of loans on Rebs and have had a lot of defaults. However including defaults, the loans I have have returned 12-15% overall profit each year. Defaults in loans to high risk small businesses are a fact of life and I am happy with the Rebs concept and impressed that this platform has existed for 10 years while others like it are long gone.

They used to be good. Now I can't even access my own account. The IT technical officer is on leave, no one is available to support me to access my account. They don't respond when you send them an email, you have to constantly chase them to receive any feedback

1. I am the sole administrator of the estate of Mr xx, deceased (“the Estate” / “the Deceased”), who died intestate on 23 August 2017. letters of administration granted to me on 10 December 2018 out of the Birmingham Probate Registry.
2. Except where I indicate to the contrary (in which case I identify the source of the information, or upon which I rely for my belief), the matters set out in this witness statement are within my own knowledge.
3. On 25 March 2022, Mr Daniel Little, the Ombudsman appointed under the Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme established under Part XVI of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“the Act”), issued a final decision (“the Decision”) in relation to a complaint that I made (on behalf of the Estate) against the Respondent, Rebuildingsociety.com Ltd (“ReBS”).
4. The Decision contained a money award against ReBS in favour of the Estate for £350,000 / 160,000. Section 229(8) and para. 16 of Schedule 17 of the Act provide that such an award is enforceable by the complainant by, if the county court so orders, being recovered as if it were payable under a county court order.
5. For the reasons I explain below, ReBS has not complied with the award, and I therefore now seek to enforce it. This is an application under CPR r.70.5(3)-(4) for an Order under the provisions of the Act stated in paragraph 4 above, that that money award be recovered under section 85 of the County Courts Act 1984 (or otherwise) as if it were payable under an order of the county court. In accordance with CPR r.70.5(4)(b) it is brought in the County Court at Leeds, being the court for the district where ReBS has its registered office and carries on business.

Great! Very easy to use. I will be recommending and using again.

I would highly recommend anyone who is raising capital for their ventures.

The Rebuilding Society team has consistently provided a high level of service to us. They are always on hand to answer our questions in a timely manner and I would recommend the company to anyone looking interested in setting up a Directors Loan ISA.

Rebuilding Society provide a Directors Loan ISA which is a great way to structure support for your business. May was great at helping me process the payment quickly before the end of the financial year.

A really easy way to create an ISA to lend to your own business. Simple process and a great return. Will definately use again and fully recommend.

Have been using Rebuilding Society for years - a friendly organisation. Very straight forward website and processes.

The few small issues I had received immediate attention - 5 stars from me.

I attempted to withdraw funds from my account but received an e-mail to say they couldn't action the withdrawal because my bank details were 'rejected'. I was told to check the details on my account.

I did so and the details were all correct. Moreover, I had withdrawn funds to this same account just a few months ago. I told the Head of Customer Services that the bank details on the account were correct and had been used before.

This morning I got an e-mail to say their intention was that I should "check the bank details saved on your profile and only update the information when necessary". That is blatantly untrue - their intention was to suggest that it was an error/omission on my part not their screw up.

So, not only is there no apology for what is clearly a failing in their processes but an offensive and disingenuous ‘customer service’.

They clearly aren’t aware of the first rule of customer service: if you screw up, admit it and definitely don’t try to blame your customer

never invest in this platform its a very small operator with very few clients and a very high default rate and there efforts on recover is non existent.

Around half of my loans defaulted and I will lose around £1500, which is a lot less than I would have lost had I not went into damage limitation mode at a reasonable early stage. Some loans defaulted for normal business reasons, others because the owner just left the country and didn't reply to rebuilding society. Additionally, some were plain fraud.

The rates are high for a reason - these businesses/people cannot get normal, traditional financing.

Can you make money here? yes, if you do in-depth due diligence on each loan, business and person. This platform is only for dedicated professional investors who have the time to do due diligence and loan management.

Most of my loans were pre 2017. Maybe there has been significant changes to the quality of loans on the platform since then, but as I don't invest in any new loans, I wouldn't know.

Efficient service and great return. The app is very easy and intuitive to use.

treated like a human being and not a statistic !! Previously used REBS and went back to them for finance once previous facility settled . Can take a little longer than conventional lending but always talking to the people making the decisions !!

Just brilliant , i cant belive how simple this was to set up. Hand held all the way thank you Guys

Not worth the risk. The overall platform default rate is in the region of 12% - more than double that of many other platforms - and it used to be transparent, but the recent face-wash of the website (looks a bit cleaner, same poor functionality) appears to have hidden it.

So much for the 'Transparency is core to our business' statement on the website.

Rebs seem to think that everyone should just suck it up and take the risk because they (in theory) offer a higher rate of return. They don't seem to get the concepts of risk appetite or risk-reward trade off. You can't choose a lower risk loan even if you want one because there are none - the rates are so high that brokers, who should be trying to find their clients the most favourable rate on their loan, are unlikely to give Rebs any business unless they cannot borrow from anywhere else. They've become a lender of last resort to companies that are most likely to fail. And that's before we enter a post-Brexit recession.

Dig a bit further around the site and it is just shambolic. Read the TS&Cs carefully and you'll get a feel that they've perhaps been cobbled together from other firms' hard work, with little attention to detail. I've found at least two clauses that are referenced, but which do not exist. When you are subject to these clauses and they relate to payments and withdrawals of your money, it is alarming. There's multiple references to 'sale pal', but it doesn't exist on the site. And the rules on ISAs after death appear to have gone out of date in 2015.

Just. Not. Worth. It.

Update: I note that this has been referred for a review. I have evidence to support everything that is said and more and am happy to supply it if requested. Next topic is how they treat deceased clients.

I found the website very informative and I received a welcome call, which was very helpful and they answered all the questions that I had. I liked the 'market place' tab and I have invested in both the initial loans and bought some loans in the secondary market. Both processes were very straight forward and the accompanying company and credit rating information was very useful. I am also interested in the BuyBack guarantee but haven't explored it yet.

This is the second time I have looked to fund a project through Rebuilding Society and once again, I found them to be nothing but helpful and supportive. Where most funding sources are very black and white, these guys are a long way from “the computer says no!” They give the chance for a narrative which explains who you are, what you want, and also, any adverse credit, how it was obtained, and what was done about it. I am very passionate about my business, that I started from scratch, and I always feel that Rebuilding Society feel the same way! I cannot recommend them more highly