Applying for a loan is not a commitment to take it. At every step right up until the money actually leaves us, you stay in control — you can ask for a different amount, walk away from an offer with nothing owed, or change your mind in the days after funding. Here is exactly what is possible at each stage, and where the lines are.
Before you sign: ask for a different amount
If you have applied for one amount but realise the company needs a little more or a little less, you do not have to start again. Tell us through the in-application chat or by email and we will look at whether a different amount works against the affordability picture. Two things to know:
- Lower is usually straightforward. Asking for less than you originally requested is generally easy to accommodate, because it sits comfortably inside what the assessment already supported.
- Higher is a fresh look. A larger amount has to be re-checked against the company's cash flow, so it is not automatic — we will only offer up to what the business can comfortably afford. Sometimes the answer is "this much, not more, not yet".
If we present a set of choices rather than one figure, you simply pick the one that fits — see can I have more than one offer? for how parallel offers work and how to compare them.
An offer is an option, not an obligation
When an offer is ready, it is yours to take or leave. Reaching offer ready places no obligation on the company whatsoever — you can read the terms, take your time, and decline if it is not right. There is no fee for declining, it costs the company nothing, and it is not held against you on a future application. If none of the offers suit, tell us and we will discuss whether something else is possible rather than treating it as a dead end.
This is the part people most often misunderstand. Signing an offer in the portal sets things in motion, but the payout itself is always confirmed by a person on our team before any funds move — it is never released by a button-press alone. So there is a real, human-confirmed step between "I accepted" and "the money is in the account". For why we keep a person on that step, see why a human confirms every payout.
What "accepted" actually means
It helps to separate three moments that can feel like one:
- Offer ready
- We have made an offer for you to review. Nothing is committed. You can change the amount, decline, or ask us to look again.
- Accepted (signed)
- You have signed the Business Loan Agreement. This sets up the payout — but the funds have not yet moved, and a member of our team still confirms the disbursement.
- Funded
- A person has confirmed the payout and the money has reached the company's bank account. From here, the 14-day withdrawal window below applies.
After funding: the voluntary 14-day withdrawal window
Even once the money has landed, you are not locked in. We offer a voluntary 14-day window in which you can withdraw from the agreement — you return the amount we advanced plus the small amount of interest accrued to that day, and the loan is treated as not having gone ahead. There is no early-settlement charge for using it, and using it is never held against you.
We are deliberately clear about what this is: it is a policy we choose to offer, not a statutory consumer cooling-off right, because lending to a company sits outside FCA consumer-credit regulation. For exactly how the window works, when it starts and how to use it, read the 14-day withdrawal right (voluntary).
If you simply want to clear it early
Withdrawing is for changing your mind in the first couple of weeks. If instead the loan has done its job and you just want to pay it off ahead of schedule, that is a different route and usually saves you money, because interest is charged only for the days you actually hold the balance. Ask us for a settlement figure and we will set out exactly what to pay.
Throughout, it is the company we are lending to, for business purposes, so this borrowing falls under Article 60B FSMA RAO 2001 and outside FCA consumer-credit regulation — it is not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the FSCS, and there is no personal guarantee. Any real figures for your own agreement live only in the signed-in portal; this help centre is account-blind. If you want to talk any of this through before you decide, use the General Support Enquiry form — we would far rather have the conversation than have you feel committed to something you are not sure about.
See also: Can a newly formed company apply?, Can a charity or charitable company apply?, Can a CIC or community interest company apply?.