This could cost you THOUSANDS
There is one word that is quietly costing UK directors more than they realise.
That word is direct.
Direct to the lender. Direct into the online form. Direct into the credit engine, with nobody in your corner and no idea what you are walking into. You see the advert. The clean design, the headline rate, the promise of a decision in minutes. It looks straightforward. It looks like it was made for you.
It was not made for you. It was made to get as many businesses as possible to apply so the lender can pick the ones they want. That is the only reason that advert exists. And while you are looking at that one lender, you cannot see the dozens of others who might actually prefer your sector, your balance sheet, your story.
So you fill in the form. Probably faster than you should. Details get missed. The application is scrappier than it needed to be. And then one of two things happens. You get a no, which goes on your credit file, and now you look like a business that gets turned down. Or you get a yes at a rate you have no way of knowing is fair, because you have nothing to compare it to. You celebrate the approval. You sign. And you have just paid far more than your business needed to. Both outcomes serve the lender. Neither one serves you.
Before you follow the next finance advert that lands in front of you, ask yourself one question. Was that advert designed for your benefit? Or theirs. A good broker knows who actually wants your kind of business, presents your numbers properly first time, and protects your credit file from unnecessary nos. One conversation before you apply costs nothing. Getting it wrong costs a great deal more.