Knowledge Base

Own Art is open to all UK residents over the age of 18, subject to status.

No, although you may apply for the scheme as a ‘house person’ if you are living with a partner who is employed. In this instance, you must quote your partner’s employment details. Other exceptions include student nurses or part-time students (provided you have at least 16 hours per week of regular paid employment).

We are able to guarantee a 0% rate for customers – and keep the scheme affordable for our member galleries – by subsidising the cost of the loan with funding from Arts Council England, Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

No. Own Art is only available through galleries, museums and other arts organisations that have been approved by Creative United, Creative Scotland or the Arts Council of Northern Ireland as registered members of the scheme.

Works of contemporary art and craft of many different kinds fall under the scheme, including sculpture, painting, photography, textiles, limited edition prints, fashion, jewellery, glass, furniture, ceramics and multimedia works – provided they’re created by a living artist. In some galleries, you can use Own Art on works of art by artists born in the 20th or 21st century. Ask your gallery for more details.

That's because we want the scheme to help support the artists of today by encouraging sales of their work to new buyers.

Own Art is available for the purchase of limited edition prints and multiples only where the artist has produced these in an edition of less than 150.

This is because we want to ensure that prints sold on the scheme are of the highest quality and avoid our customers buying prints produced in editions of several hundred where the artist has had little or no involvement in the production of the image.

Own Art cannot be used for the purchase of Giclée prints except where the artist has used digital technology specifically in order to conceive and create an image in this media. Giclée prints that are reproductions of original images created in other media are excluded, even if they have been signed and numbered by the artists.

The minimum loan amount is £100. This can either be for the purchase of a single item, or for a group of items where the combined value is £100 or more.

Own Art is available from £100 - £2,500. Credit can go towards the payment of an artwork(s) that costs over £2,500, provided you can cover the remaining balance in cash or with a credit or debit card.

Some galleries also offer Own Art up to the value of £25,000 over 10 months or 20 months. Ask your gallery for more details.

If the gallery is arranging additional services for you such as framing or delivery you can choose to include these charges as part of your Own Art loan. Please make sure you have told the gallery that you wish to do this at the start of the loan application process.

Yes, there is no limit to the number of times that you can use the scheme. However, you will normally have to allow at least 4 months between loan applications in order to establish a repayment record with the finance company.

An application for credit may be turned down by Novuna for a number of reasons. If this happens you will receive an email explaining their decision.

No deposit is necessary when applying for Own Art, although you can pay a deposit if you wish.

Your first payment will normally be debited from your account around 4 weeks after the date on which you signed the agreement.  You will receive an email confirming the date.

Yes. This is possible if you contact Novuna Consumer Finance directly, once your first payment has gone through.

No. Own Art loans do not have early redemption charges. If you would like to pay off the loan, you can contact Novuna Consumer Finance to do so at any time.