There are two general types of personal loan: secured personal loans and unsecured personal loans. A secured personal loan is secured against the borrower's property. Lenders become more flexible in the case of secured personal loans. The lender claims the property of the borrower if the borrower fails to repay the debt. Unsecured personal loans are an entirely different story.

An unsecured personal loan is a personal loan where the borrower's property is not secured against the loan. There is no need for the borrower to offer property to the lender as collateral, which means the lender has no rights to the assets of the borrower. An unsecured personal loan is good for people who can not obtain a secured loan due to lack of securable property.

In general, the value of unsecured personal loans is up to $25,000. The repayment period may vary from six months to ten years. Before loaning the money, the borrower's capacity, character and capital are checked by the lender. With no guarantee of repayment, the lenders of unsecured loans depend on the ability of a borrower to meet repayment conditions. In the event that a borrower fails to repay the debt, the lender can sue the borrower through the legal system.

As there is no collateral, an unsecured personal loan is more expensive than a secured loan. In other words, the interest rate is higher than for secured loans. This additional interest is mostly to cover the cost of insurance, which is needed to provide protection from bad debts.