Can I get a business loan with bad credit?

Some lenders will consider it, depending on the amount, how old it is and whether it is paid. A satisfied judgment with a clean record since is weighed very differently from an unpaid one. Pay it, have it marked satisfied on form N443, and send a written explanation with the application. Secured funding, such as asset finance, may be open when an unsecured loan is not.

Six years from the date of the judgment, on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines. If you pay the full amount within one month, you can have it removed. If you pay later, it is marked satisfied and stays for the six years, showing that it was paid.

It can. A limited company has its own credit file, but a lender that asks you for a personal guarantee reads your personal file as well, and a poor one can lead to a decline when the company’s own file is clean. Your personal file does not appear on the company’s file.

An undischarged bankrupt may not act as a director of a company without the court’s permission, under section 11 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. After discharge, the bankruptcy still shows on your personal file for a period set by the credit reference agencies. Lenders that will consider it look at what has happened since, and at the security on offer.

A lender decides whose files it reads, and it needs each person’s consent for a personal credit search. It reads the file of any director or shareholder it asks for a personal guarantee. A poor record for one director can affect the whole application, so check every director’s file before you apply.

A lender declines an application that falls outside its lending criteria: the bank statements, the trading history, the sector, the debt service cover, a credit file or the security on offer. Ask the lender which criterion the application missed, fix what can be fixed, and apply next to a lender whose criteria the business meets. The full answer.

A lender reads the company's bank statements and works out whether its cash covers every loan repayment with room to spare. It then checks the trading history, the Companies House record, the credit files of the company and its directors, and what the money is for. The full answer.

Asset finance pays for equipment, vehicles and machinery in monthly instalments over the years you use them, with the asset as the funder’s main security. It comes as hire purchase, a finance lease, an operating lease, contract hire, or a refinance of equipment you already own. The five differ in who owns the asset, when you pay the VAT, who claims the tax allowances and what happens at the end of the term. The full answer.

Missed repayments put the loan into default. The lender can demand the whole balance, enforce its security, call on any personal guarantee and, if the company still cannot pay, use insolvency procedures. Talk to the lender before the first missed payment, and take advice from a licensed insolvency practitioner if the company cannot pay its debts as they fall due. The full answer.