Most applications that stall do so for a simple reason: a detail is missing at the moment it is needed. Spending five minutes gathering a handful of things first means you can start and finish in one sitting, and it usually leads to a faster decision because we are not waiting on you to come back with something.
Company number and registered details, access to your business bank account for an Open Banking connection, a clear idea of what the money is for and roughly how much, and a director who can sign off. That is the core of it.
What to gather
- Your company details. The registered company name and number as they appear at Companies House. We check these anyway, so having them to hand keeps the form moving. See why we check Companies House.
- Business bank access. The quickest route is to connect your business current account by Open Banking, which needs your normal online-banking login for that account. See which business bank accounts you can connect and what Open Banking is and whether it is safe.
- A purpose and a rough figure. Knowing what the finance is for — stock, a supplier bill, a timing gap — and roughly how much helps us match the right product. See what counts as a business purpose.
- The right person to sign. Someone authorised to commit the company. See whether all directors need to approve the application.
You do not need everything up front
You do not need a business plan, filed accounts or a stack of paperwork to begin. Open Banking usually means we can assess affordability without you uploading statements at all. If we do need a specific document, we ask for it during the application — see what documents we might ask you to provide.
If you want to sketch the numbers before you apply, the calculators at Credicorp Tools let you try repayment scenarios in your browser, and the full list of what to have ready is in what documents you need to apply. When you are set, you can start an application.
We lend only to UK limited companies and LLPs, the loan is to the company with no director personal guarantee, and this is business finance outside the consumer-credit regime — as an exempt lender under Article 60B of the Regulated Activities Order we sit outside FCA consumer-credit regulation, so the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS do not apply.
See also: What documents you need to apply?, What information you need before you start?, How Open Banking speeds up your application?.