Last updated: August 12th, 2026
Yes, in most cases you can get a business loan with bad credit — but the product, the price and the paperwork all change. What matters to a lender is what the adverse credit is, how old it is, whether it has been settled, and whether the business is trading profitably now. A three-year-old satisfied CCJ is a very different conversation from an unsatisfied default from last quarter.
We are an independent commercial finance broker based in Bolton, with access to a panel of over 100 lenders including specialist funders who assess the trading position rather than a credit score alone. We place adverse credit cases regularly. We charge no broker fee, and we will tell you honestly if something is not placeable rather than run you through a pointless application.
Can you get a business loan with bad credit?
Usually, yes — though “bad credit” covers a very wide range, and so does the answer.
High street banks apply narrow, largely automated criteria. A credit score below their threshold ends the application, often without a human ever reading the file. That is why a bank decline feels final when it is not: it tells you about that bank’s policy, not about whether your business can be funded.
Specialist and fintech lenders work differently. Many will look at recent trading, bank statements, sector and security, and treat credit history as one input among several. Some price for the additional risk and lend anyway. Others decline any adverse credit outright. Knowing which is which is most of what a broker is for.
The honest position: adverse credit narrows your options and usually costs you more. It rarely removes the options entirely.
What counts as bad credit to a business lender?
Lenders look at both the company’s file and, on most unsecured lending, the directors’ personal files. In rough order of how much they will worry about it:
- Late payments — common, and on their own rarely fatal
- Defaults — matter more, and age matters a great deal
- CCJs (County Court Judgments) — significant, but satisfied CCJs are treated far more leniently than unsatisfied ones
- Missed finance or lease payments — read as a direct indicator of how you will handle new borrowing
- A poor or thin company credit score — often a filing or data problem rather than a real credit issue
- A CVA or previous insolvency — narrows things considerably, but specialist lenders exist. See business loans with a CVA
- Winding-up petitions or active insolvency proceedings — the point at which most conventional lending stops
Two things count in your favour more than people expect: time, and evidence of recovery. Adverse credit from three or four years ago, set against two years of clean profitable trading since, is a far easier case than the same event six months ago.
Can you get business finance with a CCJ?
Often, yes. A CCJ does not automatically rule you out, and several lenders on our panel will consider applications with judgments on file. What they will want to know:
- Is it satisfied? A paid CCJ is a much easier case than an outstanding one. If you can settle it before applying, do
- How old is it? Judgments over three years old carry noticeably less weight
- How much was it for? A £900 dispute with a supplier reads very differently from a £40,000 judgment
- What was it about? A genuine commercial dispute you can explain is not the same as simple non-payment
The single most useful thing you can do is disclose it upfront and explain it. Lenders find CCJs regardless, because they run the searches. A judgment declared and explained in the application is a manageable fact. The same judgment discovered after an offer has been made tends to kill the deal, because now there is a credibility problem as well as a credit problem.
If a CCJ is against you personally rather than against the company, secured options such as asset finance and invoice finance become the more realistic routes.
How to get a business loan with bad credit
Five things make the difference between a decline and an offer.
1. Know what is actually on your file
Get your company credit report and your personal report before you apply. People are frequently wrong about what is recorded — sometimes it is better than they feared, sometimes there is something they had forgotten. Errors are common and can be disputed.
2. Stop making scattered applications
Every application can leave a search footprint, and a cluster of them reads as desperation. This is where brokers who blanket-submit your details across dozens of lenders actively damage you. Each approach should be deliberate.
3. Match the product to the problem
If credit history is the obstacle, secured lending sidesteps much of it. Asset finance is backed by the asset, invoice finance by your sales ledger, a merchant cash advance by your card takings. All three weigh credit history less heavily than an unsecured loan does.
4. Put your paperwork in order
Up-to-date filed accounts, recent management figures and three to six months of clean bank statements do more for a marginal case than anything else. Lenders reading a well-presented file assume a well-run business.
5. Explain the adverse credit in writing
One short, factual paragraph: what happened, why, what changed, what has been settled. No excuses and no drama. This is routinely the difference between a decline and a referral to an underwriter.
Which types of finance work best with adverse credit?
Broadly, the more security behind a facility, the less your credit history matters.
| Option | How much credit history matters | Typical speed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset finance | Low — secured on the asset | 3–10 days | Often the easiest route with adverse credit |
| Invoice finance | Low — your customers’ creditworthiness matters more than yours | 1–3 weeks | Needs B2B invoicing on credit terms |
| Merchant cash advance | Low to moderate — driven by card takings | 24–72 hours | Needs consistent card revenue |
| Asset refinance | Low — releases cash from assets you already own | 1–3 weeks | Useful where you own equipment outright |
| Secured business loan | Moderate — property security offsets a lot | 4–12 weeks | Larger sums, longer timescales |
| Unsecured business loan | High — this is where credit files bite hardest | 2–10 days | Possible with adverse credit, but priced for it |
| Revolving credit facility | High | 1–2 weeks | Harder to place with recent adverse credit |
If your own bank has declined an unsecured loan, that does not mean asset or invoice finance is closed to you. It is a common outcome: declined for one product, funded on another.
Does my personal credit file matter?
On unsecured lending, yes — considerably. Most unsecured business lending to SMEs is supported by a personal guarantee from the directors, so lenders assess the guarantor as well as the company. Poor personal credit will affect what is available and what it costs.
On secured and asset-backed lending it matters much less, because the lender’s protection comes from the security rather than from you personally.
This surprises people, so it is worth stating plainly: a profitable company can be declined because of a director’s personal credit history, and a company with a patchy file can be funded because the director’s personal position is strong. Lenders are assessing both.
Can a start-up get a business loan with bad credit?
It is the hardest combination, but not impossible. With under two years of trading there are no accounts for a lender to underwrite, so the assessment falls back onto the director’s personal position — which is exactly the thing that is weak in this scenario. The realistic routes:
- Asset finance on a specific purchase — the asset provides the security the trading history cannot
- A merchant cash advance, once you have three to six months of card takings
- A personally guaranteed facility, where a co-director with a stronger file can support the application
- Government-backed lending — see the Growth Guarantee Scheme, which is open to younger businesses, though lenders still apply their own criteria on top
We will tell you early if it is not placeable. There is no value to either of us in a doomed application.
What if I have no credit history at all?
A thin file is a different problem from a bad one, and often easier to solve. Lenders cannot assess what is not there, so they look for other evidence: bank statements showing consistent turnover, contracts or a strong order book, and directors with established personal credit.
A brand new limited company with no trading history and directors with no credit footprint is genuinely difficult. In that situation asset finance on a specific purchase is usually the most realistic first facility, and it starts building the company’s file for next time.
What will it cost?
More than the same facility would cost a business with a clean file. That is the honest answer, and any broker telling you otherwise is selling something.
How much more depends on the severity and age of the adverse credit, the product, the security and the lender. Pricing on adverse-credit lending varies far too widely for a published figure to be meaningful, which is why you will not find one on this page.
What we will do is tell you the likely range before you apply, and give you a comparison of real options rather than a single quote. If the pricing does not make commercial sense for your business, we will say so.
We charge you no broker fee. We are paid a commission by the lender if you proceed, which is disclosed and does not increase your cost. Be careful here — fees of several per cent are common at the adverse-credit end of the market, sometimes added to the loan and front-loaded so that early settlement saves you nothing. Always ask what a broker is charging before you hand over any documents.
What we will need from you
Nothing at all for the first conversation. When we submit an application, typically:
- Last two years of filed accounts, if you have them
- Recent management figures
- Three to six months of business bank statements
- Details of any existing finance and its balances
- A short written explanation of the adverse credit
- For asset finance, an invoice or proforma for the asset
- For invoice finance, a copy of your sales ledger and your standard payment terms
Speak to us about your situation
We are a commercial finance brokerage based in Bolton, working with UK businesses turning over £250,000 to £10 million, though we work above and below that range. Our Managing Director Marcus Wright has 18 years in financial services, and we are members of the NACFB.
Tell us what you need to fund and what is on your file, and we will tell you where you realistically stand. A decline elsewhere is a starting point for us, not an obstacle.
Call 0161 546 9128 or get in touch.
Related: business loan broker · business finance options · business loans with a CVA
Bad credit business loans: frequently asked questions
Can I get a business loan with bad credit in the UK?
Often yes. Specialist and fintech lenders assess recent trading, bank statements, sector and security rather than relying on a credit score alone. Adverse credit narrows the options and usually increases the cost, but it rarely removes them. Secured options such as asset finance and invoice finance are the most accessible.
Will a CCJ stop me getting business finance?
Not automatically. Lenders will want to know whether the judgment is satisfied, how old it is, how much it was for and what it related to. A satisfied CCJ over three years old carries much less weight than a recent unsatisfied one. Declaring it upfront with a short explanation matters more than most applicants realise.
Which business finance is easiest to get with bad credit?
Asset finance and invoice finance, because both are secured against something tangible: the asset in one case, your unpaid invoices in the other. A merchant cash advance is also accessible if you take card payments consistently. Unsecured loans are where credit history counts most.
Does my personal credit affect a business loan application?
On unsecured lending, yes. Most unsecured SME lending is supported by a director’s personal guarantee, so lenders assess the guarantor as well as the company. On asset-backed and secured lending it matters considerably less, because the lender’s protection comes from the security.
My bank declined me. Does that mean I cannot get funding?
No. A decline reflects that lender’s criteria, not your business’s fundability. High street banks apply narrow automated rules; specialist lenders assess differently and some will fund cases a bank will not touch. A good proportion of the deals we place began as a bank decline.
Can a new business get a loan with bad credit?
It is the hardest combination, because there are no accounts to underwrite and the assessment falls back on the director’s personal position. Asset finance on a specific purchase, or a merchant cash advance once card takings are established, are the most realistic routes.
Do you charge a fee for bad credit business loans?
No. We charge no broker fee and are paid a commission by the lender if you proceed, which is disclosed and does not increase your cost. Fees of several per cent are common in this part of the market, so always ask any broker what they are charging before providing documents.
Bolton Business Finance Ltd is a commercial finance broker. We arrange non-regulated business and commercial property finance only. We are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and we do not advise on or arrange regulated mortgage contracts or consumer credit. Information on this page is general guidance, not advice, and eligibility, amounts and pricing are determined by the lender.