Police Credit Union
Explained

A credit union is a financial co-operative: the members own it, save with it and borrow from it. A police credit union is one whose common bond is policing, so membership is open to officers, staff and, depending on the credit union, retired officers, other law enforcement employees and family members.

In practice it works like this. You open a savings account and pay in a regular amount, which in many forces can come straight from your pay. That makes you a member. As a member you can apply for a loan, which the credit union assesses on affordability. Each year, if the credit union has made a profit, members share in it through a dividend on their savings.

Credit unions are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and the PRA. The Bank of England publishes a monthly list of the credit unions the PRA regulates; the October 2026 list includes Number One Police Credit Union Limited (213301), Serve and Protect Credit Union Limited (213306) and Scottish Police Credit Union Limited (213597).

Each credit union sets its own common bond, so check its current rules. This is what each one's website said when we checked on 18 October 2026.

No1 CopperPot's loan eligibility adds that you must be 18 or over, live in the UK or Isle of Man, and be in paid employment or have a regular income. Junior savings accounts are for under-18s.

At No1 CopperPot you can save from £5 to £1,000 a month into the main accounts, with a combined maximum balance of £40,000. Its accounts include:

• Member Account: the account that makes you a member.
• Family Member Account and Junior Account (ages 0 to 17).
• Reserve and Festive Fund accounts.
• Notice Plus: 90 days' notice to withdraw; giving less notice costs 90 days' dividends at the previous year's rate.

Instant withdrawals are available through its app or website for some accounts. Serve and Protect lists Regular Saver, Cash ISA, Fixed Saver, Prize Saver, Junior Saver and Flexi Saver accounts.

Payroll deduction means your force takes your savings (and any loan repayment) from your pay and sends it to the credit union before the rest reaches your bank. No1 CopperPot lists 31 forces and agencies where it is available, from Cambridgeshire to West Yorkshire, including the Metropolitan Police, City of London Police and the National Crime Agency. Serve and Protect offers it where your employer has signed up. Everyone else can pay by Direct Debit.

It suits people who find it easier to save money they never see. The trade-offs are that it is easy to forget, and that it depends on your pay: if your net pay falls, for example on reduced sick pay, ask the credit union and payroll what happens to the deduction. The pros and cons are set out side by side in our payroll deduction comparison.

You usually need to be a member to borrow. No1 CopperPot says you can apply for membership as part of a loan application. Its loans include a Member Loan (up to £35,000), a Consolidation Loan, a Commutation Loan (up to £100,000 or 50% of your commutation entitlement, whichever is lower), a Student Officer Loan for officers in their first two years (up to £10,000 over up to 60 months), and a Loyalty Loan borrowed against your savings. Serve and Protect lends up to £25,000, with interest calculated on the reducing balance.

• Assessment: No1 CopperPot says it assesses your circumstances, affordability and ability to repay, looking at overall affordability rather than just your credit score, and aims to decide within three working days.
• Rates: it does not advertise a representative APR because each loan is individually assessed. Its rates page listed APRs from 5.5% to 24.9% when we checked, depending on the loan and amount, and showed them as applying from 29 September 2023.
• Early repayment: both No1 CopperPot and Serve and Protect say there are no early repayment charges.
• Missed payments: can harm your credit file, as with any lender.

How a credit union loan compares with a bank loan or a salary advance is covered in police loans explained.

Section 11(5) of the Credit Unions Act 1979 lets the Treasury set a maximum rate of interest on credit union loans. The Credit Unions (Maximum Interest Rate on Loans) Order 2013 set it at 3% a month, from 1 April 2014. Compounded over a year, 3% a month is about 42.6%.

The cap is a ceiling, not a typical price: the police credit unions publish rates far below it. It is still a useful fact to know, because ordinary personal loans from banks and other lenders have no equivalent general cap.

Yes, within limits. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects eligible savings held with UK credit unions, banks and building societies up to £120,000 per person per firm, the limit since December 2025. No1 CopperPot and Serve and Protect both state the £120,000 limit on their sites, and the Scottish Police Credit Union shows the FSCS protected badge.

No1 CopperPot says members who leave the police can keep their membership, and Serve and Protect says you can join before leaving and keep membership for life. What changes is how you pay: payroll deduction stops when you leave your force, so you will need to move to Direct Debit. If you transfer to a force not on the credit union's payroll list, the same applies.

On retirement, some officers look at borrowing against their commutation lump sum. Read how police pension commutation works and get your figure from your pension administrator before borrowing against it.

The full comparison, with Police Mutual and Federation services alongside, is on the police money services hub. In short:

• No1 CopperPot (Number One Police Credit Union Limited, FRN 213301): UK-wide police family, payroll in 31 forces and agencies, and police-specific loans such as the Student Officer and Commutation loans.
• Serve and Protect (213306): police plus prison, armed forces, fire and health workers; loans up to £25,000; cash ISA listed.
• Scottish Police Credit Union (FRN 213597): the police family in Scotland.

Police Mutual is not a fourth credit union: its savings and loans are provided by No1 CopperPot, which it introduces members to.

1. Check you are within the credit union's common bond, using its own current eligibility page.
2. Check the firm on the FCA register, and use the website and phone number shown there.
3. Decide a monthly amount you can keep up; at No1 CopperPot the minimum is £5.
4. Choose payroll deduction (if your force is on the list) or Direct Debit.
5. Have proof of your police connection ready: the credit union will tell you what it accepts.
6. If you plan to borrow, ask for the APR, monthly payment, term and total repayable for your loan, and compare it with a bank loan for the same amount and term.

PolicePay has no relationship with any credit union and is not paid for this information. This is not financial advice.