Business Loans

Applying for a loan with us is quick and easy, and can be done using our online form.

Simply tell us how much you want to borrow and over what period of time, and we’ll check if you’re eligible in as little as 30 seconds. We’ll ask a few more questions about your business - we promise this part won’t take more than 7 minutes. Then, if your application is approved, you’ll receive a no-obligation, personalised quote in as little as one hour.

Once you accept, we’ll run some final checks to process your loan and deposit the money straight into your account.

Once your contract has been agreed and you have set up your Direct Debit, your loan will typically be paid to you within 14 days, although you may receive it sooner.

The interest rate your business pays is determined by several factors. Our credit assessment process looks at the information you provide us, alongside publicly available data, for example from credit bureaus. The outcome of this process, along with the length of repayment term and the amount you are borrowing helps to determine what your interest rate will be.

Your loan offer depends on your situation and we take a number of factors into account. We’ll complete an affordability assessment and never lend you more than you can afford. This means we may offer you a smaller amount or less time than you originally applied for.

If you’re offered a loan of up to 12 months, this comes with no upfront fee so you can pay it back as quickly as possible. Please note that this is referred to as a ‘Flexible Loan’ in your loan contract and legal documentation.

To discuss your offer, please get in touch with your Account Manager.

Yes, you can make an overpayment (more than your contractual monthly amount) on any Funding Circle business loan, or settle your loan early in full with no fee. How your overpayment works depends on the type of loan contract you have:

• If your contract refers to a 'Flexible Loan' of any term: Interest only accrues on your remaining balance. When you overpay, you'll shorten your loan term and reduce the total interest paid, meaning you could pay off your loan faster.
• If your contract refers to a 'Funding Circle Business Loan' of any term: Your overpayments will reduce your future monthly repayment amounts but won't affect the outstanding loan term. You'll simply pay less over the same number of fixed repayments.

The only loans we’re unable to offer overpayments on are Bounce Back Loans (BBLS) and a small number of loans from 2019. You can still settle these loans early in full, for no fee.

Yes! You can settle your business loan early at any time for no fee.

To request a settlement figure and get more information, you can contact our team directly at loanservicing@fundingcircle.com or on 0203 308 9190.

To settle your loan, you will need to:

• Complete an online form with details of your settlement

• Make a payment to settle the loan using the instructions provided

• Answer any further requests

These steps should all be completed by the ‘valid until date’ in order to avoid paying further interest.

Per Section 8.0 of the Funding Circle Borrower Agreement, all repayments must come from a verified bank account held by the liable business or a personal guarantor.

Third-Party Payments: Unverified third-party payments received without prior approval may be rejected and returned to the source.

Interest Accrual: If a payment is returned, it will not be applied to your balance, and interest will continue to accrue.

Alternative Accounts: If extenuating circumstances require you to use an alternative account, you must contact us immediately for authorisation.

As an FCA regulated company we are required to perform the relevant Know Your Customer (KYC) and Source of Wealth (SOW) checks on our clients when settling a loan early. These requests will vary from case to case.

You can request confirmation of your settlement from our team. Email loanservicing@fundingcircle.com or call 0800 048 2467.

Once your documents have been received and reviewed, you have agreed to the loan contract and you have set up your Direct Debit, your loan request will then be listed for funding on the Funding Circle platform. Your loan will typically fund within 14 days although it may fund sooner.

Once your contract has been agreed and you have set up your Direct Debit, your loan will typically be paid to you within 14 days, although you may receive it sooner.

Once you have accepted and signed your loan contract, you won’t be able to cancel it.

Yes, if you’re approved for a Funding Circle business loan, a personal guarantee may be required by one or more shareholders to secure your obligations under your loan contract. You’ll need to ensure that the shareholder(s) in question have read, understood and signed the terms of our personal guarantee before we release any funds.

For more details on personal guarantees, please read our dedicated information page.

Please note that different rules may apply for Personal Guarantees for loans entered into under the government’s Recovery Loan Scheme or Growth Guarantee Scheme.

If you’re borrowing for less than 24 months and your loan contract states that your loan is a ‘Flexible Loan’, you’ll notice that the limit of the personal guarantee is for twice the amount of your initial loan amount. For example, if you get a loan of £50,000 over 6 months, the personal guarantee will be up to a limit of £100,000.

A personal guarantee with a higher limit allows for greater flexibility if we offer you a ‘top up’ of your loan enabling you to borrow more in the future without re-applying. It does not affect your repayments, or the total amount you owe.

We ask for a personal guarantee on all loans, including those taken under the Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS). However, Principal Private Residences cannot be taken as security under GGS.

If you have a loan through the Government’s Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS), Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) or a Funding Circle business loan that you’ve taken out post April 2021, you can view any additional costs that may apply to your loan on our Fees & Charges Tariff document here.

If you have taken a loan through the Government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) or have a Funding Circle business loan that you’ve taken out pre-April 2020, you can find the costs that may apply to your loan below:

1 - If borrowers are late in their repayments, we may apply an administration fee of up to 15% of the arrears, as provided for in clause 9.5 of the Terms and Conditions for Borrowers.

2 - As per clause 5.4 of the Loan conditions, borrowers whose loans are placed into default, or who are more than 90 days late may be charged an additional collections charge up to the amount set out in the table below (but also capped at 15%) of the outstanding loan amount at the time of default. These charges will be in addition to what is owed to investors.

The collections charges will be deducted from recovery payments, but will be capped at 20% of any recovery payment.

This Collections Charge Schedule is relevant to all loans originated on or after 6th June 2016 to date.

You can apply for a loan and get a decision without impacting your credit score. This is because we only run a soft credit check search on your personal and business credit reports when you apply, meaning you can find out what you could borrow and decide if it’s right for you with complete peace of mind.

We only run a full credit search on the business and its shareholders if you go on to accept your loan. This will then be visible to other lenders on your business credit report and may impact your credit score.

We now offer top-ups for certain loans which could allow you to borrow more without re-applying. If we offer you a top up, we’ll send you a separate top-up offer setting out any additional amount we can offer, the terms for repayment and the interest rate.

If we've not been able to answer your question above, you can find out how to contact us on our support homepage.

We report your business loan payments to two of the major business credit bureaus, Experian and Transunion, which can help your business build its own credit. This can be an important step in qualifying for additional funding, better terms with vendors and lower business insurance premiums.

Having proudly backed sole traders and partnerships for over a decade, Funding Circle took the difficult decision to focus solely on Limited Companies (LTD) and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) from 23rd February 2026.

As the market shifts towards open banking and automated finance, we’ve adapted so we’re able to deliver the best possible service levels for all of our LTD and LLP customers. This means moving away from the manual, legacy assessments we had in place for sole traders and partnerships.

What happens next?

• Existing loans: Rest assured that if you have a current loan with us, your repayment terms remain unchanged. We’ll carry on servicing your loan as normal until it’s been fully settled. More information here.
• New applications: From 23rd February 2026, we’ll no longer be able to accept new applications from sole traders and partnerships

To change your direct debit details, please call our team on 0203 308 9190 or email us at customersolutions@fundingcircle.com.

Our operating hours are Monday to Thursday 9 am to 6 pm and Friday 9 am to 4:30 pm.

Unfortunately not. However, if you are having problems repaying your loan on a certain date please contact us on 0208 308 9190 or email us atcustomersolutions@fundingcircle.com, and we’ll do what we can to help.

All defaulted loans are now closed, and there will be no further recoveries received on any bad debt held in your portfolio. 

You are able to see historic updates on your defaulted loans via the ‘recent loan comments’ section on the ‘My Portfolio’ tab in your Funding Circle account. 

We have closed all outstanding defaulted loans as we have taken all available steps to recover funds, and unfortunately in some cases we have not been able to recover some outstanding losses. This can occur in some cases, and not limited to; guarantor’s personal insolvency or that it may not be deemed commercial to pursue a recovery if the anticipated costs will outweigh the benefit to investors and contravene their overall interests.

We have provided more information on each of the relevant stages below should you wish to know more about your historic loan comments and their stages:

- Downgraded

If we receive a report that may affect the business or loan guarantor’s ability to repay the loan, we will downgrade a loan by removing the risk band. This could be an adverse credit event such as a County Court Judgment (CCJ), or a winding up petition against the business.

A downgraded loan will not necessarily always become late or defaulted. However, removing the risk band prevents it being sold to other investors while our team investigates the report (although it is worth noting that due to the ongoing environment, the secondary market is currently paused in order to ensure that loans bought and sold by investors on the secondary market are priced fairly). We may reinstate the risk band—allowing the loan to be traded (in the future)—if we deem the event will have no impact on business’s ability to repay its loan, and there is no additional risk to investors. If this is the case, the risk band will usually be reinstated within 28 days.

- Late

If a business misses a loan repayment, or only makes a partial payment, the loan will fall late. If the loan falls late, we will contact the business to understand its position and help them with clearing the arrears. If a payment cannot be met immediately, we will continue to work with and assist the business with getting back on track as soon as possible. Where possible, we aim to support businesses through financial difficulties whilst they get back on their feet and look to recommence payments.

However, if it becomes evident that the contractual payments cannot be maintained; the business accrues four missed payments; or enters a formal insolvency process; then we will proceed to default the loan. This protects investors’ interests by activating the personal guarantee and allows us to demand full repayment from both the business and loan guarantor.

- Payment plan (pre-default)

If we think it will provide the best outcome for both investors and the business, we may agree to a payment plan. This provides the business with a payment break or reduced payments for a period of time.

Providing businesses with the support and breathing space needed to get through a challenging trading period is often the best way to help them get back on their feet, generate revenue and subsequently repay their loans. This avoids unnecessary credit losses, maintaining your repayments over the long term.

If appropriate, we will continue to provide further flexibility for businesses that need it, ensuring we are doing everything we can to both support them and protect your portfolio in the long-term.

- Defaulted loans

If a loan is defaulted, it means that the borrower has breached the terms of the loan contract, and we have determined that the best course of action is to formally demand repayment of the outstanding loan balance from the business and loan guarantor. This enables us to take the actions required—including through the guarantor’s Personal Guarantee—to recover the loan on behalf of investors.

Usually, a loan is defaulted due to missed payments, a formal insolvency process or concerns regarding a borrower’s conduct or failure to cooperate.

Following default, our Recoveries team will complete a full assessment of the business and loan guarantor’s asset position and financial circumstances. Where immediate repayment of the loan is not possible, we will work with the loan guarantor(s) to agree a fair, affordable and sustainable monthly payment plan.

- Payment plan (post-default)

Supporting borrowers/guarantors, where they are co-operative and transparent, is the best way to maximise recoveries for investors. In these instances we may enter into a formal repayment plan.

Upon agreement of a formal repayment plan, we will monitor the agreed monthly payments and ensure that any failed or missed payments are pursued with the borrower/loan guarantor. If the payment plan is breached and the borrower/guarantor does not bring their payments up to date, or agree to a suitable alternative plan, we may commence legal proceedings.

We review payment plans (and the guarantor’s financial position) periodically throughout each year, to ensure that the level of payment plan is fair to both the borrower and to investors. Although repayments may be small to start with, given time, payment plans do increase and form a significant part of the recoveries for investors. In some instances, we may require security over the guarantor’s property.

- Litigation

We may commence legal proceedings against a borrower or loan guarantor(s) where they have not cooperated with us. For example, they may not have agreed to a fair repayment arrangement, or refused to provide a charge over property when requested.

Sometimes court action will result in us appointing High Court Enforcement Officers (i.e. bailiffs) to agree a payment plan with a guarantor, or we may seek to obtain a charge on their property and then an Order for Sale. This is very much the last resort for us.

We will normally stop any legal action if the guarantor starts communicating with us again. That said, if we have any reason to believe that a guarantor is deliberately trying to deceive us (rather than simply being afraid to face up to his or her responsibilities), we will always take legal action or commence bankruptcy proceedings rather than try to negotiate or approve an IVA (see below for more info on an IVA)

- Personal Insolvency (Bankruptcy, IVA)

Sometimes personal insolvency—for example through an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or bankruptcy—is the right option for an individual. When this happens, we will lodge a claim with the appointed insolvency practitioner to seek to ensure investors are eligible for a dividend. At this early stage in the process, it is not yet known whether there will be any return to creditors from the insolvency, however it is very unlikely that the loan will be recovered in full.

Typically, a bankruptcy appointment will last for at least 12 months, but usually 2 years, and an IVA will last for up to 6 years.

As the appointment progresses, our insolvency team will continue to liaise with the insolvency practitioner. We will provide further updates on an annual basis or as often as significant developments occur.

- Settlement

If you have received notification that a loan has been settled, we have agreed and received the final repayment from the loan guarantor and distributed this payment to investors before closing the loan account. No further updates will be provided to investors following settlement.

Please note that we may—at our discretion and where it is deemed in the best interests of investors—agree to a relatively small reduction in the settlement amount if this facilitates a quick return to investors; as opposed to a long-term reduced payment plan. This will usually mean waiving a proportion of the interest that is owed to investors. If it is determined that it is in investors’ interests to accept a settlement that involves the write off of the original loan principal, we will provide a further loan comment to confirm this.

- Broken Payment Plan

On occasions, a borrower/guarantor(s) may miss the monthly payment due as part of their agreed repayment plan. This may happen for a number of reasons, such as a difficult trading period, an unexpected emergency expense which temporarily affects cash flow or an administrative error. We encourage borrowers/guarantors to provide early notice to us if they are experiencing issues with meeting their repayments so we can discuss alternative payment options with them and/or take appropriate actions to protect investors’ interests.

If we are not informed by the borrower/guarantor that their forthcoming payment will not be met and no alternative arrangements have been agreed, we will take immediate steps to contact them to arrange payment of the amount which is overdue. If we are unable to secure contact within a reasonable timeframe, the payment remains outstanding or further payments are missed, we may default the loan (if not already defaulted) or commence litigation (if already defaulted) to enforce recovery.

- Closed

We will proceed to close an account once full repayment has been received, a settlement agreement has been reached or where it is determined that there is no further prospect of recovery to investors (see example scenarios below). In advance of closure, we will take all available steps to recover the loan balance as set out in the steps outlined above.

In certain circumstances, such as a guarantor’s personal insolvency, we are unlikely to receive full repayment of the loan balance and an involuntary write-off will be required. Occasionally, it may not be deemed commercial to pursue a recovery if the anticipated costs will outweigh the benefit to investors and contravene their overall interests.

Loan repayments are calculated based on a fixed interest rate, the amount you are borrowing and the length of your loan. We will confirm what your repayments will be before you agree to take the loan, along with any other key contract information.

Your repayments will always be equal, and will consist of the outstanding loan amount plus interest. Each month the interest portion of the payment will typically go down and the loan portion will go up.

We offer top-ups on a pre-selected basis only. This means that as you repay your loan, we’ll regularly assess your credit position and may be able to offer additional funds in a fast, flexible way.

There’s no minimum repayment period to be met before you’re seen as eligible for a top-up. Your top-up eligibility will be partly determined by the outcome of an affordability assessment and your repayment behaviour.

If you’re pre-selected for a top-up, we’ll let you know by email or via your online account.

You’ll only be able to apply for a top-up if and when you get pre-selected. If you’re pre-selected for a top-up, we’ll let you know by email or via your online account. The same applies if you went through a broker for your original shorter term loan.

When you took a shorter term loan with us, part of your credit agreement stated that you may be eligible to ‘top-up’ your loan amount at a later date. This means that you’ll keep your existing credit agreement, while being able to borrow more and extend your term once you’ve been pre-selected.  

There’s no additional fees or charges to take your top-up. The interest rate will be as set out in your original top-up offer email. 

By taking additional funds and extending your repayment term, the total cost of your loan over the new repayment term will be higher than before accessing your top-up.

Yes, whenever you take a top-up, your term will be extended from the point of your next repayment due date. For example,

• If you take a 12-month loan in January and then a top-up in July, your new balance will be your remaining loan amount plus your top-up amount
• Your new balance will be reamortised over a 12-month term, starting from your August repayment date
• Your new final payment will be due in July of the following year

Please note that you can’t currently refinance your loan over a longer term without taking a top-up. Also the top-up term cannot be longer than the original loan term.

No, your monthly repayment due date will stay the same.

Follow these simple steps if you’d like to apply for a top-up on your loan:

• Sign in to your online account
• Click ‘Yes, top-up my loan’

• Tell us how much you’d like to top-up
• Confirm your details
• Get your instant top-up decision

Then, once you're ready to accept your offer, a member of our support team will be in touch to help with any documents or extra information that may be required.

You may be asked to upload your most recent bank statements covering the last 6 months, but most of our customers won’t need to do this.

Pre-approval for top-ups is treated separately to credit assessments for other applications. If you’re interested in taking out a new loan or applying for FlexiPay or our Cashback business credit card, the best way to see if you’re eligible is to apply.

Yes, you don't have to take your top-up offer right away. We typically review your pre-selection status every 30 days and each top-up application is subject to further final checks.

If you receive a top-up offer after filling in our short application form, your top-up offer will be available for at least 7 days. We can’t guarantee that your top-up offer will remain available once this expires, but you may be eligible again in the future.

No, if you’re pre-selected and then offered a top-up, there'll be no impact on your credit score. We only carry out soft searches with no hard searches at any point.

Pre-approval’s based on the information we hold on your business. If you apply for a top-up, we’ll check your details again - including credit and affordability assessments. 

In this instance, after a further affordability assessment, the offer we’ve made is the maximum top-up amount we can offer you at this time. These checks won’t impact your credit score.

We can reduce your top-up amount to suit your needs, but the minimum you can draw down is £2,500.

It’s not possible to receive two top-ups over the same payment period (1 month). If you’re eligible and have suitable affordability, you may be able to take multiple top-ups within 5 years of the original loan date.

The number of top-ups you may make is subject to your eligibility. You may not top-up the loan after the 5th anniversary from the date of your original loan. In each top-up, your term will be extended to the original term from the point of the top-up (either 6, 12 or 24 months). 

However, please note that your loan term may end up being longer in some cases.

No, your personal guarantee that was entered into at the point of your original loan agreement remains in full effect. The ‘limit’, as per your guarantee, covers the top-up.

After accepting your top-up offer, you’ll sign a variation agreement on behalf of the borrower which supplements the original loan agreement. The personal guarantors won’t be required to enter into an additional guarantee.

It’s not possible to change the personal guarantors once your original loan agreement has been entered into. If your shareholding circumstances change, you may not be eligible for a top-up. Then you may be able to apply for a different finance option with Funding Circle (subject to normal underwriting process and approvals).

No, your top-up won't be affected and we'll proceed as normal. However we'll need to record the personal guarantor's new address, so please let us know.

All top-up applications are subject to final checks before we issue funds, irrespective of the pre-selection offer. However, we’ll continue to assess you for pre-selection in the future.

If you’re rejected due to changes with your personal guarantee agreement:

• Top-ups are an extension of the existing loan contract and personal guarantee your business already has with Funding Circle. We’re unable to make any changes to your personal guarantee when issuing a top-up. 
• If you need to change your personal guarantee or wish to take out further funding with different guarantors, please apply for a new loan with us.