CBILS is the short name for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. It’s the new scheme, announced by The Chancellor, to help smaller businesses across the UK who are struggling with cashflow as a result of the current crisis.
The scheme covers a range of business funding solutions, including term loans, invoice finance, overdrafts and asset finance facilities. It provides the lender with a government-backed guarantee, which means that a credit decision from a lender could change from ‘no’ to ‘yes’. Key characteristics of the scheme are:
You will remain 100% liable for the debt.
You can see a list of participating lenders here. You can apply directly to your current bank. You can use Funding Xchange to understand solutions from other CBILS-accredited lenders you may be eligible for. Please note that accredited banks and lenders are experiencing a high volume of customer enquiries.
If your bank cannot help, there are almost 50 lenders accredited to CBILS, however in practice you may only be eligible for two or three of these. To help you focus your efforts, we’ve written a post outlining the five different ways of accessing CBILS and the approach of different lenders, so you can explore what type of lender is most likely to provide funding to your business.
No, the government has said that no one needs to put up their home as security to benefit from the scheme. If you are seeking less than £250,000 in funding, you will not need to provide a Personal Guarantee.
Yes, but you could also consider other sources of finance such as Start Up Loans, where you can still apply for a startup loan of up to £25,000, while second loans remain available to eligible existing customers. They have a dedicated support section on their website.
Not necessarily. You will have to prove that you have a viable business, which been trading successfully before the crisis, but just need extra support to deal with short term difficulties caused by the current disruption.
Yes, if you’re self-employed and have an annual turnover of up to £45m, operate using a business bank account, and generate more than 50% of your revenue from trading activity. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a sole trader, freelancer or a small partnership.
The government has also rolled out a package of support for the self-employed as part of its Self-employment Income Support Scheme.
CBILS is part of a range of emergency measures which includes deferred VAT payments and salary grants of up to 80%. For wider information on how to protect your company, including your people, please see the government COVID-19 for business website.
And if you cannot access CBILS funding, you may still be able to access finance. Funding Xchange helps you get offers from over 50 lenders, both part of, and separate to the CBILS scheme.