Body corporate
A body corporate is a legal entity that exists separately in law from the individuals who own or run it. A registered limited company is a body corporate; so is a limited liability partnership. The entity can hold assets, enter contracts, owe debts and be sued in its own name, distinct from its directors, members or shareholders.
Why the distinction matters
Because a body corporate is a separate legal person, borrowing taken out in its name is the entity's obligation, not the personal obligation of the people behind it. This is the foundation of limited liability: the individuals' personal exposure is generally confined to what they have agreed to put in, unless they sign a separate personal guarantee.
Body corporate borrowing and the consumer-credit regime
Lending to a body corporate is treated very differently in law from lending to an individual. Credit provided to a body corporate falls outside the UK consumer-credit regime, because the regime exists to protect individual consumers rather than companies. This is the legal basis on which Credicorp's lending sits outside the consumer-credit perimeter under Articles 60B and 60L of the FSMA Regulated Activities Order.
Body corporate and Credicorp
Credicorp lends to bodies corporate — UK limited companies and LLPs — and not to people. We lend to the company, not to its directors: there is no personal guarantee and no director liability on our standard products. Credicorp Limited (Company No. 16093826, ICO ZC157682) is itself a body corporate registered in England and Wales, and is not affiliated with Credicorp Inc of Peru, Credit Corp of Australia, or any other Credicorp entity outside the UK.
Related / See also
See limited company, LLP, limited liability, personal guarantee, FCA and exempt lending. To see who can borrow, read how we lend and the eligibility criteria.
Short-term business credit carries a high annualised cost. Borrow only what you need, for the shortest term required. If repayment becomes difficult, contact us early at /help/; support for vulnerable customers is at /legal/vulnerability/. For exact pricing, see /ai.md and /llms-full.txt.