Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Treasury is pushing for the bounce back loan repayment period to be doubled from five years to 10 years.
Both Government and banks that have jointly lent £33bn through the bounce back scheme are afraid of the looming wave of nonrepayment.
More than a million small companies have borrowed under the bounce back scheme, which offers loans of up to £50,000 and are covered by a 100-per-cent state guarantee.
The loans were launched in May after an outcry about the criteria attached to the coronavirus business interruption loans, which made it difficult for small businesses to qualify.
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that £53bn will eventually be handed to small firms in bounce back loans, with 40 per cent likely to default. This equates to costing the taxpayer £16bn in bad loans.
>See also: Half of small businesses will never repay Bounce Back Loans, warn banks
Bounce back loan repayment
Nearly half of small businesses that have taken out government emergency coronavirus loans do not intend to repay them. Forty-three per cent of businesses that have taken out either bounce back loans or coronavirus business interruption loans said they do not believe the Government will chase the
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Treasury pushes to double bounce back loan repayment period to 10 years
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Treasury is pushing for the bounce back loan repayment period to be doubled from five years to 10 years.
Both Government and banks that have jointly lent £33bn through the bounce back scheme are afraid of the looming wave of nonrepayment.
More than a million small companies have borrowed under the bounce back scheme, which offers loans of up to £50,000 and are covered by a 100-per-cent state guarantee.
The loans were launched in May after an outcry about the criteria attached to the coronavirus business interruption loans, which made it difficult for small businesses to qualify.
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that £53bn will eventually be handed to small firms in bounce back loans, with 40 per cent likely to default. This equates to costing the taxpayer £16bn in bad loans.
>See also: Half of small businesses will never repay Bounce Back Loans, warn banks
Bounce back loan repayment
Nearly half of small businesses that have taken out government emergency coronavirus loans do not intend to repay them. Forty-three per cent of businesses that have taken out either bounce back loans or coronavirus business interruption loans said they do not believe the Government will chase the
Hot Business News Today
City grandees call for small business Covid debt to be turned into tax owing
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government should convert the projected £35bn of bad debt from small business owners who have taken out Covid loans into tax owing.
Converting the bad debt into tax that could be repaid over years to HMRC would free up cash better spent on investment and saving 3m jobs.
So say over 250 financial experts led by Aviva chairman Sir Adrian Montague in the long-awaited report from TheCityUK.
TheCityUK Recapitalisation Group calls for the Government to back a “UK Recovery Corporation”, which would manage £35bn of unsustainable debt already Government guaranteed.
>See also: Government should triple equity to invest in businesses to £30bn
Over time, private investors could invest in the UK Recovery Corporation, encouraging the public to back SMEs in Britain, something chancellor Rishi Sunak is keen on.
Depending on how much money they owe, small businesses could either go into a “Business Repayment Plan” to convert unmanageable loans into means-test tax liabilities, or, for larger debts, use “Business Recovery Capital” to convert COVID-19 crisis loans into preference shares or long-term subordinated debt.
Both solutions mean small businesses will not have to give up any equity in their businesses.
>See also: Bim Afolami calls for £15bn Recovery Fund for scale-ups
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Hot Business News Today
City grandees call for small business Covid debt to be turned into tax owing
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government should convert the projected £35bn of bad debt from small business owners who have taken out Covid loans into tax owing.
Converting the bad debt into tax that could be repaid over years to HMRC would free up cash better spent on investment and saving 3m jobs.
So say over 250 financial experts led by Aviva chairman Sir Adrian Montague in the long-awaited report from TheCityUK.
TheCityUK Recapitalisation Group calls for the Government to back a “UK Recovery Corporation”, which would manage £35bn of unsustainable debt already Government guaranteed.
>See also: Government should triple equity to invest in businesses to £30bn
Over time, private investors could invest in the UK Recovery Corporation, encouraging the public to back SMEs in Britain, something chancellor Rishi Sunak is keen on.
Depending on how much money they owe, small businesses could either go into a “Business Repayment Plan” to convert unmanageable loans into means-test tax liabilities, or, for larger debts, use “Business Recovery Capital” to convert COVID-19 crisis loans into preference shares or long-term subordinated debt.
Both solutions mean small businesses will not have to give up any equity in their businesses.
>See also: Bim Afolami calls for £15bn Recovery Fund for scale-ups
Business
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Small businesses blindsided by Growth Street demanding its money back
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Dozens of small businesses that borrowed money from peer-to-peer lending platform Growth Street have been told they must repay their loans.
Growth Street, which has lent £17.5m of investors’ money to 116 small businesses affected, is exiting the peer-to-peer market, giving them just three months’ notice to repay their debts.
The average amount owed is £148,122, with London and the South East accounting for 41 per cent of all borrowing, according to SME financier Rangewell.
>See also: HSBC handling of bounce-back loans branded ‘shambles’ by businesses
Loans repaid will be redistributed to Growth Street’s peer-to-peer investors in quarterly instalments, with any losses shared equally.
Astonishingly, not one of the affected businesses has missed a loan repayment to date.
A letter sent by Growth Street to borrowers, seen by the Times, concedes that the wind-down is “likely to be disruptive to your business”.
Back in March, Growth Street’s peer-to-peer investors panicked because of Covid-19 and extracted their cash from high-risk lending to small businesses as fast as possible. To try and stop the haemorrhage the investor stampede for the exit, Growth Street initiated a “liquidity event”, telling small business borrowers they had to repay their loans within three months.
>See also: 20%
Hot Business News Today
Small businesses blindsided by Growth Street demanding its money back
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Dozens of small businesses that borrowed money from peer-to-peer lending platform Growth Street have been told they must repay their loans.
Growth Street, which has lent £17.5m of investors’ money to 116 small businesses affected, is exiting the peer-to-peer market, giving them just three months’ notice to repay their debts.
The average amount owed is £148,122, with London and the South East accounting for 41 per cent of all borrowing, according to SME financier Rangewell.
>See also: HSBC handling of bounce-back loans branded ‘shambles’ by businesses
Loans repaid will be redistributed to Growth Street’s peer-to-peer investors in quarterly instalments, with any losses shared equally.
Astonishingly, not one of the affected businesses has missed a loan repayment to date.
A letter sent by Growth Street to borrowers, seen by the Times, concedes that the wind-down is “likely to be disruptive to your business”.
Back in March, Growth Street’s peer-to-peer investors panicked because of Covid-19 and extracted their cash from high-risk lending to small businesses as fast as possible. To try and stop the haemorrhage the investor stampede for the exit, Growth Street initiated a “liquidity event”, telling small business borrowers they had to repay their loans within three months.
>See also: 20%
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HSBC handling of bounce-back loans branded ‘shambles’ by businesses
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses say HSBC is pushing them to the brink of collapse because of the time it is taking to approve bounce-back loans.
Another small business owner says her mental health has been affected by the “sham” of her experience of applying for an HSBC bounce-back loan.
HSBC’s own bounce-back loan guidelines say it aims to respond to applications within a couple of days.
Yet HSBC business customers say they have been left hanging for weeks for approved applications to be processed and money to appear in their accounts.
>See also: Half of small businesses will never repay Bounce Back Loans, warn banks
Some HSBC customers say the bank’s unresponsiveness is pushing them into going out of business.
“They have left me to go under,” said Darren Smith of Chorley-based DMS Minibus Hire, who applied for a bounce-back loan on May 16, having been an HSBC customer for over 30 years, and is still waiting for his money, despite HSBC assuring him the money would hit his account within two days.
“So many businesses are going bust due to this farce,” said childminder Louise Blazys, who is also waiting for any communication for HSBC, despite applying three weeks ago.
Alan Larking,
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Nearly half of small businesses do not intend to repay government loans
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Nearly half of small businesses that have taken out government emergency coronavirus loans do not intend to repay them.
Forty-three per cent of businesses that have taken out either Bounce Back Loans or Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans say they do not believe the government will chase the debt, or that they will be unable to repay the loan, according to the Business Banking Resolution Service.
Nearly 60 per cent of the 500 small businesses surveyed by the BBRS have accessed government-guaranteed loan schemes.
The Bounce Back Loans offer struggling small businesses up to £50,000 interest free for the first 12 months, with a low 2.5 per cent interest rate after that.
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) supports loans of up to £5m per small business.
>See also: Microbusiness £50,000 Bounce Back Loans – how they work
According to UKFinance, both schemes have lent £22bn of government-backed loans between them to almost half a million businesses.
Over £14bn has been handed out through Bounce Back loans, along with more than £7bn via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme which is aimed at slightly larger players and has stricter rules.
The BBRS survey raises the prospect of thousands of firms having to be
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Only one in nine coronavirus emergency business loans are approved
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: Only one in nine UK firms seeking help from the government’s coronavirus emergency loan scheme has managed to secure any cash, claims the British Chambers of Commerce.
Just 13 per cent of all firms who attempted to access emergency coronavirus business loans have been successful, with the majority are still awaiting a decision or being rejected, according to the latest BCC weekly tracker poll.
However, 57 per cent of firms surveyed by the BCC, did not intend to apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan (CBIL) at all due to concerns they would not be able to repay the loan.
Just 20 per cent of the 700 businesses surveyed said they had attempted to access coronavirus emergency business loans.
>See also: How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?
Of those who did apply, 48 per cent said they were still waiting for a decision and 40 per cent said they had been rejected for a loan.
Treasury rejects figures
However, the Treasury rejects the BCC’s figures saying that more than 40,000 applications have already been received for these loans and roughly half have already been approved.
A Treasury spokesman said: “These figures are wrong … lenders are
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How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?
The government has announced a new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme, as part of a package of measures to help small business.
British Business Bank will deliver the loan scheme, which will launch within the next few weeks to support SMEs to access bank lending and overdrafts.
The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80 per cent of each loan – subject to a per-lender cap on the number of bad loans it can claim for.
>See also: Coronavirus government statutory sick pay – how to apply for it
The scheme will support loans of up to £1.2m per small business. This new guarantee, which replaces the existing Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), will initially support up to £1bn of lending.
Like the EFG, the idea is to give lenders more confidence in approving credit decisions for small businesses that have insufficient security to meet the lender’s normal requirements.
However, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan will offer more attractive terms for both small business and lenders than the EFG.
Lenders will not charge small businesses or banks for this guarantee.
However, the small business borrower will always remain 100-per-cent liable