Frequently Asked Questions

Limited companies and LLPs that have been trading for a minimum of 2 years are eligible to apply for loans. Borrowing businesses should be incorporated in England, Scotland or Wales, have a turnover of at least £100,000 a year, be profitable and have a good credit history with no defaults or active CCJs held against them.

Businesses can apply to borrow funds for between six months and five years.

Our arrangement fee will be clearly shown on your loan offer. You pay up to 6% of the amount you borrow if you apply direct via our website.

If you arrange your loan via a broker, you may have to pay an additional fee for their service. Arrangement fees are rolled into the total loan amount.

Additional fees may be added if you are late in making repayments.

To discuss your individual borrowing needs with our expert team, please contact us.

We do not charge fees for early settlement of the loan, on overpayments* or to change the loan repayment dates to better fit your monthly cashflow.

*If overpaying, the payment must be at least £5,000. LendingCrowd may request additional financial information to establish the source of funds used to make overpayments or early settlement of loans.

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We take a number of factors into account to determine interest rates. In short, we look at cashflow, management strength, the industry the business is in and its ability to repay the loan. These factors are scored along with other data on the business and directors to generate a score that will have a corresponding interest rate.

No. However, you can apply for further borrowing with us once you’ve made at least six repayments on your existing loan, which will be rolled into your new loan.

We encourage you to consult HM Revenue & Customs or a qualified tax adviser for information.

When you submit a loan application, we don’t charge you any fees until you have received your loan.

Your business can apply to borrow between £75,000 and £500,000. Loan terms range from six months to five years.

Subject to credit assessment, we can offer unsecured loans of up to £350,000 (including fees) supported by a personal guarantee.

For loans above £350,000, a charge or asset security will be required in addition to a personal guarantee.

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You could use your LendingCrowd loan for a wide variety of reasons, for example to purchase stock, manage cashflow, fit out new premises, funding a management buy-out or acquisition, or to refinance existing debt, making your outgoings more manageable.

Yes, you can. LendingCrowd does not charge any fees for early repayment. You can also make overpayments of at least £5,000. LendingCrowd may request additional financial information to establish the source of funds used to make overpayments or early settlement of loans.

To apply for a business loan with LendingCrowd, you’ll need to supply:

• Two years’ filed accounts (last one no more than 15 months old)

• Last three months’ bank statements

• Details of current borrowing

• Purpose of funds

• Management information (if available)

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We make our credit assessment based on the loan amount you request – you may request a different amount or LendingCrowd may suggest a lower amount in line with affordability criteria. Once a loan has been paid out to you, you can’t alter the amount of the loan.

You can apply for a loan to carry out refurbishment works on your business premises, but we don’t currently offer property loans for development or purchase.

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Our Credit Team treats security on a case-by-case basis. Each loan’s security considerations will be a little different, but we generally consider:

• Personal guarantees for loans of up to £350,000 (including fees), subject to credit assessment

• A charge or asset security for loans above £350,000

• Bilateral guarantees from associated companies may be requested in specific circumstances

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We aim to be in touch within 48 hours of receiving your loan application (weekends excluded).

To complete your loan application, you’ll need to supply:

• Information about your business, how long it has been trading and the sector in which it operates

• Two years’ filed accounts (the last no later than 15 months old)

• Latest three months’ bank statements

• Details of current borrowing

• Purpose of funds – a simple description of what your business will use the loan for

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For business loans we would take a personal guarantee, as is standard in business lending. For this you would need to be a homeowner.

We calculate loan repayments using the same formulae used by banks and other financial institutions. Your monthly repayments will be the same each month (except for your final payment of the loan term, which will usually be different) and will typically consist of interest payments and repayments of the outstanding principal of the loan. Each month, the interest portion of the payment will typically go down and the principal portion will go up.

If you want to change your repayment date, for example to suit your cashflow, please contact us. We can change repayment date at no cost to you.

Your repayments will begin four weeks after you receive your loan funds. We’ll take your repayments by Direct Debit on the same day each month (depending on bank processing). We will communicate with you before a payment is due so that you can ensure you have the required funds in your account.

If you think you will be late in making a repayment, or find you are in financial difficulty, you should call us on 0345 564 1600 or email us at borrower@lendingcrowd.com as soon as possible so we can work together to find the best solution. We have a range of options available to support you, including forbearance.

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For free advice about dealing with debt, you can contact Business Debtline, which is run by the Money Advice Trust, a registered charity.

When your loan is fully repaid, you don’t need to do anything else – we immediately release any security and personal guarantees that were in place. We update Companies House and, if applicable, the Land Registry (for borrowers in England or Wales) or Registers of Scotland (for borrowers in Scotland) to reflect the fact that we no longer have any charge over the business or your property.

The only time a borrower needs to take any action is if we had a standard security over a property in Scotland. Once the loan is repaid, the borrower would need to engage a solicitor to update the Registers of Scotland and discharge the security.

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