When your company applies, part of the decision is automated. We think it is fairer to be open about that than to imply a person reads every line by hand. Here is exactly how it works, what the model does and does not see, and the rights you have over an automated outcome.
What the model does
An affordability and risk model reads the information you supply, the company's business credit reference data, and — where available — the signals from the business bank account you connect or upload. It produces a score and a recommended outcome: approve, decline, refer, or request more information. Because the model can do this in seconds, you usually get a fast, consistent answer rather than waiting in a queue. For the factors that feed it, see what information goes into a lending decision.
The decision is authoritative
The automated outcome is the decision, not a draft suggestion that someone later rubber-stamps. We hold ourselves to consistency: the same company facts produce the same answer, every time, without it depending on who happened to pick up your file or what mood they were in. The one step we always keep in human hands is releasing the money itself — funds are only ever paid out after a person has confirmed the payment.
It assesses the company, not you personally
The model is built around one question: can this company comfortably repay this amount on this schedule? Because the loan is to a UK limited company or LLP and we take no personal guarantee, it does not score the director's personal income, personal credit rating, household budget or benefits. An identity and anti-money-laundering check is run on the director, but that confirms who you are; it is not a personal credit search.
Your rights under UK GDPR Article 22
Under Article 22 of the UK GDPR you have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing where it significantly affects you, and to ask for human involvement. In practice that means you can:
- ask a member of our team to review any automated outcome;
- ask us to explain, in plain English, the main factors that drove it;
- contest the decision and add new evidence for a senior underwriter to weigh.
To use any of these, open the support tab in your portal and tick that your message concerns an automated decision — see how to ask a person to review an automated decision. We respond within two business days.
Why we build it this way
Automating the assessment is what lets us decide quickly and treat two identical companies identically. Keeping a clear right to human review, and keeping the money-out step manual, is what stops "the computer said no" from ever being the end of the conversation. For our wider approach, see how we lend. Whatever the outcome, you will see your figures in full — and if we can lend, your Key Information Sheet (KIS) shows the amount, term, total cost of credit and repayment schedule before you sign. Because this is lending to a company for business purposes, it sits outside FCA consumer-credit regulation under Article 60B FSMA RAO 2001 and is not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the FSCS.