After submitting your loan application, you’ve been informed that you are not eligible to get approved because of a low credit score.

Your chosen lending company only accepts borrowers with good credit and for the moment, your credit rating is not enough. What can you do?

If it is really necessary for you to get a loan because of a financial emergency, your only option is to find a lending company that extends loans for bad credit.

These lenders are also known as subprime lenders and are less exacting when approving loans. Generally, those with a credit score below 620 should look for loans in this category.

However, there are lenders who may try to impose high interest rates and expensive fees on account of the borrower’s poor credit standing. This is consumers need to be smart about choosing a bad credit loan offer.

Below are some practical tips on how to get a subprime loan with a reasonable deal.

Check your credit report.

Even if you know that you have an imperfect credit score, it’s important to get a copy of your report from each of three major credit reporting agencies (Trans Union, Experian and Equifax) and personally check your credit file. Make sure that there are no errors in your report which can pull down your score even more. If you do discover errors that need correction, send a letter to the bureau that issued your report immediately.

Compare bad credit offers.

Needless to say, different lenders offer different deals and what you need is the most reasonable deal that you can get. You can expect subprime loans to have higher interest rates than loans reserved for customers with good credit. But that doesn’t mean you should settle for just any kind of loan. By doing your own comparison, you can be assured that you can select a loan with the lowest possible rate.

Carefully evaluate your loan contract.

After doing comparison, take the extra time to read and understand the stipulations of your bad credit loan contract. See to it that you will not be charged with hidden fees which could add make repayment a burdensome obligation.

Improve your credit score.

It’s never too late to work for improvement. By submitting your monthly loan payments on time and paying all your other bills promptly, you should be able raise your credit score. Six months after your loan’s approval, order a copy of your credit report from the three credit bureaus to make sure that your file s accurately updated.