Blues and Twos Credit Union

Blues and Twos Credit Union is a not-for-profit savings and loans cooperative serving police staff and other workers in Lancashire, with over 30 years of experience helping members with savings and loans¹. It is a credit union, which means it is owned by its members rather than by outside shareholders: members' savings are pooled and used to fund loans to other credit-worthy members of the credit union². Like all credit unions, it offers savings accounts and loans, and it pays an annual dividend on savings rather than a fixed interest rate³.

Membership works through a "common bond". In Blues and Twos' case that bond is built around employment, principally with Lancashire Police and Lancashire County Council, and once you have joined, family members living at your address and your children can join too⁴. Members save from as little as £10 a month, can borrow once they are members, and get free life cover on loans and on a portion of their savings⁵. Savings are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000 per eligible depositor, the same protection the credit union states applies at banks and building societies⁴.

What Blues and Twos Credit Union offers members

Blues and Twos offers two things at its core: savings accounts and loans. All credit unions offer savings and loans, and Blues and Twos concentrates on these rather than trying to match a bank's full range³. Its savings side includes a Regular Saver account for everyday saving, a 12-Month Fixed Saver for members who plan to leave money untouched for a year, a Christmas Saver, and a Junior Saver for children⁹. On the borrowing side it offers personal loans from £300 up to £25,000, including car and holiday loans, debt consolidation loans, and a Loyalty Loan for longer-standing members⁶.

The credit union describes itself as a not-for-profit lender, and states it offers fair and competitive fixed rates with no hidden charges¹. Loan repayment terms run from 3 months to 5 years⁵. Beyond the products themselves, membership carries two protections that high street lenders do not always match: free life cover on all loans, so the debt is cleared if you die before repaying it, and free life cover on a portion of your savings⁷. Credit unions generally provide free life insurance covering the value of the loan, so the loan is repaid if you die before paying it back in full³.

If you are comparing a credit union with banks and building societies generally, our guide to credit unions explains how the sector works, and our guides to savings accounts and loans cover the wider market.

Who can join: the common bond, family and junior savers

Credit union membership in the UK always rests on a common bond: something the members share, such as living or working in a certain area, working in the same industry, or working for certain employers¹⁴. Blues and Twos' common bond is employment-based, tied to the police and council employers it grew out of. The credit union's registered history reflects this: it previously traded under police federation names before becoming Blues and Twos Credit Union⁸.

Once you are a member, your family can follow you in. Blues and Twos states that once you are a member you can introduce family who live at your address and your children⁴. This mirrors the general credit union rule: anyone in the house of a person with a common bond can usually join, and as long as one family member meets the common bond requirements and has joined, other family members living at the same address can usually join too¹⁵.

Children are welcomed through the Junior Saver account. Junior Savers save alongside the adult members of their household, and on attaining the age of 16 they may become full members of the credit union and are encouraged to save regularly⁵. Starting a child's savings early through a credit union is one of the simpler routes into saving, and our savings accounts guide explains the alternatives, including children's accounts at banks and building societies.

Regular saving and the annual dividend

Saving with Blues and Twos starts at £10 a month, and you can change your save amount at any time⁵. Members must save a minimum of £10 per month⁴. The maximum allowed in your account is £25,000 per member, and if your account reaches that maximum the credit union will contact you to move some funds⁵.

The return on savings comes as an annual dividend rather than a fixed interest rate. Blues and Twos calculates the dividend on the balance of your savings daily, declares it at the Annual General Meeting, usually held in December each year, and pays it gross of income tax⁵. The size of the dividend is not guaranteed in advance: as with credit unions generally, the amount you get depends on how much you have saved and how much profit the credit union has made¹⁶. This is the key difference from a bank savings account, where the rate is fixed in advance. Our savings accounts guide explains how fixed-rate accounts elsewhere compare.

Alongside the Regular Saver, the 12-Month Fixed Saver Account is open to all members and new members who plan to leave their savings in place for 12 months⁹. It has no set-up fees, but no withdrawals can be made without penalty: withdrawing early means losing all accumulated interest⁹. The Christmas Saver is designed to build money through the year for the festive period, and the Junior Saver covers children, as above¹⁰. Withdrawals from the Regular Saver are free and straightforward, which the next sections cover in detail.

Personal loans: how borrowing limits grow with membership

Blues and Twos lends only to its own members, and its own terms set out how the amount a member can borrow grows with how long they have belonged⁶. The credit union states that members in their first 6 months of membership can apply for up to £7,500, provided they have been employed by their current employer for 3 months⁵. After 6 months of membership, the credit union states you can apply for up to £25,000⁵. One of the credit union's own pages puts the 12-month mark as the point at which the £25,000 maximum applies, so its documents differ slightly on the timing; what is consistent is that the full maximum is reserved for established members⁴. These are the credit union's own lending rules and may change: check its website for today's limits.

Loans are organised in tiers. Loans of £1,001 to £5,000 fall under Tier 1, the Standard Loan. Loans of £5,001 and above fall under Tier 2, the Standard Loan for higher amounts, and loans above £15,000 are for homeowners only: for a loan greater than £15,000 you must be the owner-occupier of your property¹⁷. The maximum loan for a non-homeowner is £15,000¹². Repayment terms run from 3 months to 5 years, and smaller loans carry shorter maximum terms: loans of £300 to £1,000 have a 12-month maximum term⁵.

There are also purpose-specific options. Car loans run up to £25,000¹². A Loyalty Loan is for members looking to borrow £7,501 or more who have been a Blues and Twos member for 5 years or more⁶. As a general rule, credit union members can usually borrow at least two or three times the amount they hold in savings, depending on the credit union's loan policy¹⁸. If you are weighing a credit union loan against other forms of borrowing, our loans guide sets out the alternatives, and our credit cards guide covers card borrowing.

Debt consolidation and credit builder loans

Blues and Twos defines a debt consolidation loan as one where the member wishes to repay one or more loans or cards, reducing monthly outgoings into a single monthly repayment over an agreed term¹⁷. Members looking to consolidate other debts, cards or a bank overdraft can borrow between £3,001 and £15,000, with a maximum for debt consolidation of £15,000 over 48 months⁶. Evidence of your current debt and its current APR rate is required to support the application¹⁷. If the loan is for a purchase as well as consolidation, the purchase must be greater than the debts to be repaid¹⁷.

Consolidation is not right for everyone, and it is worth understanding what it does. Independent debt charities advise that interest and charges are added to your repayments when debts are consolidated, so the new loan may cost more over its lifetime than the debts it replaces¹⁹. The Debt Advice Foundation generally suggests consolidation loans should only be considered by people with good credit histories and a relatively high proportion of high interest debt, such as store and credit cards²⁰. Official guidance from nidirect also recommends shopping around for the best terms from a reputable lender, noting that building societies and banks may be able to offer a personal loan²¹. Our debt guide explains the full range of debt solutions and where to get free advice.

For members who have entered a Debt Management Plan, Blues and Twos may be able to help with a Credit Builder loan, but only for applications of £3,000 or less¹⁷. Note the wider lending exclusion in the application section below: the credit union cannot lend at all to anyone who has been subject to a Debt Management Plan within the last 5 years, so the Credit Builder route depends on the individual circumstances of the plan.

Fees and charges on savings and loans

The headline on Blues and Twos' fees is simple: there are none on the ordinary running of savings and loans. Saving is free, with no set-up fees or charges⁵. There are no set-up fees or hidden charges on any savings transactions⁷. On loans, there are no set-up fees and no early redemption penalties for repaying your loan before the end of the agreed term⁵. The credit union states it does not charge any early redemption fee, and that you can use savings to repay a loan early without penalty⁴. When consolidating an existing loan into new borrowing, it does not charge an early settlement fee, and you pay interest on the current loan only up until the consolidation⁵.

The charges that do exist sit in the loan terms. A £20 fee applies each time your account is transferred to the Member Services Team, which happens when a loan falls into arrears handling²². The loan terms also give the credit union the right to demand early repayment of all or part of the loan balance, together with any unpaid interest, if an amount due is not paid or the terms are breached²². These are the costs of things going wrong rather than costs of the product itself.

Two other conditions affect the money in your account. Any promotional value credited to your new account at the time of joining must be returned to the credit union if you close your account within 12 months of your join date⁵. And members who take out a loan must make a monthly contribution to savings of £10 plus the agreed loan repayment, with the loan terms requiring you to retain at least one repayment plus £10 in your Regular Savings account at all times from the start of the loan until it is repaid in full⁴. For today's rates on its loans and the current dividend, check the credit union's own website, as figures change and this page does not carry them.

Life savings and loan cover: how it works

Blues and Twos provides free life cover on all loans, and free life cover on savings up to the age of 80 years, with terms and conditions applying⁷. On the savings side, the cover doubles your savings up to £3,000 after 2 years of membership⁵. Eligibility is specific: at the time of death, a member must have been saving the minimum £10 per month regularly with the credit union for 2 years or more, have joined before their 60th birthday, and be 80 years or younger²³.

The cover works as a package. If a member with a loan dies, the credit union will repay any difference between the loan and the member's savings, after the savings cover match, so that no one dies with a debt to the credit union²³. Any remaining savings are paid to the member's estate²³. Claims are described as straightforward and are administered by the Member Services Team²³. This is a benefit of credit union membership generally: when you borrow from a credit union you normally get free life insurance to cover the value of the loan, so the loan is repaid if you die before paying it back in full³.

This cover is not a substitute for full protection insurance: it is limited to the credit union's own products, capped on the savings side, and conditional on the age and saving-history rules above. If you have dependants who would struggle financially if you died, our protection guide explains life insurance, income protection and illness cover across the market.

Banking with Blues and Twos: Members Area, app, offices and payroll deduction

Blues and Twos is not a bank, and its day-to-day access reflects that. The online Members Area launched on 30 July 2024, and the Blues and Twos Credit Union App launched on 7 January 2026⁴. Registration for the Members Area can take up to 48 hours, and when activating your account you choose a password with 8 characters, including one capital letter, one lower case letter and one number²⁴. Through the Members Area and app you can withdraw savings, request transfers to your designated bank account, and complete online forms, including the Change of Pay-Pension Contribution form, which can also be downloaded and posted back¹¹.

The physical presence is modest. The main office at Lancashire Police Headquarters in Hutton is open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. An office within Lancashire County Council at County Hall, Preston is open from 12noon to 2pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays⁴. A private meeting room at the Hutton or County Hall office is available on request¹. Cheques can be cashed at Virgin Money, Fishergate, Preston, but must be collected from one of the credit union's offices, as they cannot be posted for security reasons⁴.

Payroll deduction is the traditional way police and council members save and repay. Where pay or pension arrangements are not already in place with your employer, Blues and Twos will offer payroll deduction to your employer at no charge⁵. More widely, credit unions offer a combination of online and phone banking, a payroll partnership with your employer, and a local branch or service point you can walk into²⁶. This is different from a full current account: MoneyHelper notes that only some credit unions offer current accounts, and Blues and Twos' own range is savings and loans.

How to apply for a loan and what can stop an application

Only members can borrow: Blues and Twos states it solely lends to members of the credit union⁶. Applications are made online, and all loan applications are subject to an affordability assessment including a credit search⁶. Existing borrowers use a separate additional borrowing link, which finds your account and current loan so you can apply for more; you must have made 3 monthly repayments or more on your current loan before applying, and you must include your outstanding balance in the loans calculator so your borrowing amount shows the new total⁴. The credit union allows up to 3 loans in any twelve month period⁴.

Applications are processed as quickly as possible, usually within a couple of days⁴. Once approved, you sign the agreement online by typing your name in the signature box and receive an Approval Certificate, and the loan is paid into your nominated bank account²². Your first monthly payment is due within one month from the date the loan is provided, and each month thereafter until repaid in full²². You have a 14-day right to withdraw, starting the day after the agreement is made and ending 14 calendar days later, exercised in writing, with funds returned in full²².

Several things can stop an application. The credit union is unable to lend to anyone who, within the last 5 years, has been or is subject to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), Debt Management Plan (DMP), Debt Relief Order (DRO) or Bankruptcy²⁴. Loans above £15,000 are for owner-occupiers only⁵. A Policy for Lending is followed for all application decisions¹³. Your application gives permission for your personal information to be supplied to a credit reference agency for a credit search to assess creditworthiness, and supplying false or misleading information during the application or while the loan is outstanding may result in prosecution²². If you are struggling with debts rather than looking to borrow, the credit union cannot advise on bad debt and financial issues, and free help is available from debt advice charities and MoneyHelper¹.

Complaints, help and how members' savings are protected

Members can contact the credit union by telephone, email or in person¹. Complaints go to the Member Services Team, verbally or in writing, at Blues and Twos Credit Union, PO Box 77, Hutton, Preston, Lancashire, PR4 5SB, or by calling 01772 618833²². If the credit union cannot resolve your complaint, its loan terms state you have a right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service²². That right is general to credit unions: official guidance confirms you can take your complaint to the free Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with the final response, or if the timeframe for responding has passed¹⁴. The ombudsman is free to use and independent.

Savings are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Blues and Twos states it is covered by the FSCS, like banks and building societies⁴. In respect of deposits, an eligible depositor is entitled to claim up to £120,000, and for a joint account held by two eligible depositors the maximum that could be claimed is £120,000 each, making a total of £240,000⁴. An older page on the credit union's own site states the deposit protection limit as £85,000, so its documents disagree; the £120,000 figure is the more recent²⁴. Official guidance confirms credit union loans and savings are protected by the FSCS²⁸.

Blues and Twos is a UK credit union, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and its status can be checked on the FCA Register⁸. If a credit union were ever to fail, the FSCS would repay eligible depositors up to the limit; our consumer protection guide explains how the scheme works across UK financial services.