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A County Court Judgment or a patch of adverse credit does not automatically end a business loan application — but it is never irrelevant either. The two questions that matter are: whose record is it, and what does it say about the company now? Here is how we treat CCJs and adverse markers, so you know where you stand before applying.
Whose record is it?
We lend to the company, so we run a credit check on the company — through business credit reference agencies such as Experian Business, Creditsafe and Equifax Business. We do not run a personal credit search on the director, and the director's personal history is not part of our assessment. That cuts both ways:
- A CCJ against you personally — from an old phone contract, a personal loan, a dispute years ago — does not appear in the business credit check and does not directly count against the company's application.
- A CCJ against the company is squarely in scope. It sits on the company's credit file and we will see it.
For the detail of what we do and do not check on the director, see do you credit-check the director personally.
How we weigh a company CCJ
Context decides how much weight a judgment carries. No single marker triggers an automatic decline. Three things move the assessment:
- Satisfied or unsatisfied. A CCJ that has been paid and marked satisfied says "there was a problem and the company resolved it". An unsatisfied judgment says a creditor is still owed money the company has not paid — which is a serious signal when the question in front of us is whether the company will pay us.
- How recent. A satisfied judgment from three years ago, followed by clean trading, reads very differently from one entered last quarter.
- What the account shows now. Roughly six months of the company's bank activity is part of every assessment. Steady income and an account run within its means can offset an older blemish; returned payments and constant pressure at the account floor compound it.
In plain terms: an old, satisfied CCJ with strong recent trading may still get an offer, possibly for less than requested. A recent unsatisfied CCJ usually means we cannot lend, because affordability is exactly what it puts in doubt.
What to do before you apply
- If a company CCJ has been paid, make sure it is recorded as satisfied — you can apply to the court for a certificate of satisfaction, and paying within one calendar month allows the judgment to be removed from the register entirely.
- Check the company's file with the business credit reference agencies for errors, because disputed or wrongly attributed judgments can be corrected. Our guide to business credit reference agencies explains how.
- Let the bank account tell a good story: a few months of clean, regular activity is the strongest counterweight to historic adverse credit.
A caution on "bad credit" lenders
Some lenders advertise business loans specifically for adverse credit, priced accordingly and often propped up by a personal guarantee — which converts the company's risk into your personal risk. We do not take a personal guarantee, so where the company's record says the borrowing is unaffordable we decline rather than lend against your house. If the company is borrowing to cover existing arrears, borrowing is usually the wrong tool — see when not to take a short-term business loan, and note that free, independent help is available from Business Debtline (businessdebtline.org, 0800 197 6026).
This borrowing is to a company for business purposes, so 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. Current amounts, terms and costs are on our business loans page.