Low Doc Business Loans in UK

Starting a business when you’re a start-up can be quite tricky. On one hand, financial institutions everywhere tell you to take the leap and to start the journey with them today, but on the other, the same financial institutions will need a ton of paperwork that, more often than not, the start-up or even a small business cannot hope to obtain in time.

For small businesses, getting even a small amount can be a big difference for their business. But today, using traditional financial banks or institutions to get loans for a start-up or a small business is far from easy, and the looming paperwork that comes with it! It has been an inside joke that a small forest somewhere needs to be sacrificed in order to make paper for the documents a financial bank or institution needs when someone applies for a business loan.

These financial institutions and banks have become wary and cautious in terms of start-up business owners, or when it actually comes to business loan applications in general. Most of the time, they ask for a lot of paperwork, financial documents, financial statements, or proof of steady income counting the past business months or years. These small business owners will probably not have the ability or the time to actually procure these in time.

But besides all that, there is one simple solution: low doc business loans.

What Exactly is a Low Doc Business Loan?

Yes, we actually get you. It might seem hard to believe that there are actual financial institutions who have loosened the reins when it comes to paperwork needed when someone is applying for a loan. But trust us, with a lot of financial institutions actually competing with each other, most are looking into what different kinds of loans they can offer. And it just so happens that a low doc business loan is one kind of loan that most financial institutions in the UK offer.

A low doc business loan is exactly what it’s name is: essentially the same as regular business loans, only that a low doc business loan does not require that many documents, financial statements, and or, traditional financial documents that make applying for a business loan stressful. These loans are usually used as most regular business loans are: for expansion of business, resourcing existing debt, and even expanding a business’ marketing reach.

A low doc business loan is probably one of the best business loans there is for start-ups or small businesses that can’t keep up with the overwhelming demand of various financial documents needed for a regular business loan to be approved.

Are there any advantages with this type of Loan?

Of course! The most obvious one being that low doc business loans simplify the application process when applying for any business loan. And although you may not be able to apply for a very large loan, a lot of low doc business loans are available for existing and start-up businesses, adding that to one of the advantages of this kind of loan.

These types of loans are also unsecured loans and that is a big advantage. But what is an unsecured loan? This means that the applicant does not need to provide the bank or the financial institution any security of any form or any collateral when applying for the loan. With proper research and inquiry, you are bound to find several financial institutions that offer low doc business loans.

An additional advantage to this is that having no credit history, or even a bad credit history is of no effect for your loan approval. This can take some thorns out from a person with bad credit looking for an opportunity to change the tides with a new business opportunity.

Another advantage is that these loans generally have very minimal wait time, which means that an applicant does not need to wait that long in order to be approved.

And lastly, low doc business loans most often are loans that can be applied for using the internet or over the phone. This reduces the amount of time needed in the actual application process. Add this to the advantage of having minimal wait time, these types of loans are best when any business needs a quick loan cash out to use when there is an unprecedented or unforeseen opportunity comes knocking at their doors. Low doc business loans are at the top of the list of the quickest options to get funds quickly.

Who best benefits from a Low Doc Business Loan?

You’ve read that this kind of business loan is usually used by start-ups and small businesses, and that is true. But why is this so? Imagine yourself as a self-employed person who suddenly has that window of opportunity and yet has limited time to grab it. Now imagine that you would need to shell out funds for that opportunity, and when you finally decide to apply for a regular business loan, it would take weeks to finish and comply with all the necessary paperwork and then you’d have to wait for about another week up to 3 months and when you get an answer, it is a decisive denial of application.

So you’d have to start over again, but by this time your window of opportunity has dwindled, or maybe even closed. That’s what low doc business loans help with. Not only does it cut the amount of time needed for a loan application, but it also ensures the applicant time for a back up plan should the loan be denied.

Traditional Business Loan Requirements

With the mention of the usual requirements of documents, financial statements, and other financial documents that banks or financial institutions require, what exactly are these requirements? 

Business loans require a lot of legal paperwork when applying for them. These requirements cover detailed accounting documents and financial statements, comprehensive business plans, and other financial documents. This means that for small businesses that are a one-man-team, most of them do not have time to spare, nor have the capability of actually producing these kinds of documents. Why? 

Take a self-employed artist for example. They may not have the capacity to hire an accountant and would delegate the accounting portion of their small business to a few taps on the calculator app on their smartphones. But say for example that they want to apply for a business loan with a bank who wants to see a detailed report of their accounting for the last year or so of their business operations.

Small businesses most often don’t start their journeys with a well written business plan for their first years of business, much less a well detailed plan on expansion. To actually be able to expand the business, they would need a business loan in order to procure funds for this very reason. However, to get a business loan, almost every bank will require the very same documentation, and in order to get this, a business owner would need to take a week (sometimes two) off from their daily business routine to be able to put this together, and considering the amount of risks involved in not running a business even just for a few days, most business owners would not want to do this.

In the same manner, hiring an accountant to handle and put together a basic accounting model for any self-owned business in order to get a business loan is an unnecessary and added expense. In fact, this can be associated as another hidden fee that comes with the business loan.

Where can I use the loan?

Most business loans need a definite reason when applying for them, and that does not stop there! Most financial institutions will ask for a financial report or statement regarding where the loaned amount is used in order to check if it was actually used for the reason it was applied for or else certain consequences will apply.

With a low doc business loan, it is basically up to you in how you will use your loaned money. The most efficient uses that are documented today are beginning a new business venture, or expanding your existing one. A business may also need to restock on some supplies and the loaned amount can help cover any unexpected expenses. Labor related expenses are also one of the most efficient ways in spending your low doc business loan amount. And finally, another good use for the loan is when there is a predicted seasonal influx, the loaned amount can help cover you for the meantime. Like we mentioned earlier, what you do with the loaned amount is very much up to you, and it is always wise to keep your options open, knowing that this kind of loan is available to you and your business.

Are there types of Low Doc Business Loans?

Yes there is. There are actually three types of low doc business loans, the first one being the low doc loans; these are for business owners who cannot provide the needed financial statements and documents needed by a bank for the previous years of the business. Then there are the Lease Doc Loans that are tailor built for commercial property investors who use their income from their leased property as proof of repayment when applying for a loan. Lastly, no doc loans are loans for businesses that cannot provide proof of income for their business. The last loan, however, comes at a price: higher interest rates because of the larger risk the lender undertakes in accepting the loan.

Finding the right and the best Low Doc Loans for you

When applying for low doc business loans, or actually, any loan for that matter, always take time and patience in reading the fine print of the loan application that you are applying for. Trust us when we say that it pays to do your research. Hundreds of financial institutions actually offer low doc business loans in the UK.

If you already seemingly get exhausted with the fact that you need to spend hours up on the internet doing your research, or driving around your city and checking out each and every financial institution that you drive by, there are helpful financial online tools that can help compare terms, rates, and even conditions on several kinds of low doc business loans that are currently being offered by financial institutions.

Low Doc Loan FAQs