Government guaranteed loan scheme known as Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme ("CBILS")

Here is a link to a useful FAQ helpsheet that has been prepared the British Business Bank.  

Key points to note:

• Borrowing proposal: A proposal will need to be provided to the lender to establish whether it is viable that the provision of finance will allow the business to trade out of the short to medium term difficulty

• Up to £5m facility: The maximum value of a facility provided under the scheme will be £5m, available on repayment terms of up to six years

• 80% guarantee: The scheme provides the lender with a government-backed, partial guarantee (80%) against the outstanding facility balance, subject to an overall cap per lender

• No guarantee fee for SMEs to access the scheme: No fee for smaller businesses. Lenders will pay a fee to access the scheme

• Interest and fees paid by Government for 12 months: The Government will make a Business Interruption Payment to cover the first 12 months of interest payments and any lender-levied fees, so smaller businesses will benefit from no upfront costs and lower initial repayments

• Finance terms: Finance terms are up to six years for term loans and asset finance facilities. For overdrafts and invoice finance facilities, terms will be up to three years

• Security: Under the scheme, lenders will not take personal guarantees of any form for facilities below £250,000. For facilities above £250,000, personal guarantees may still be required, at a lender’s discretion, but they exclude the Principal Private Residence (PPR), and recoveries under these are capped at a maximum of 20% of the outstanding balance of the CBILS facility after the proceeds of business assets have been applied.

• For all facilities, including those over £250,000, CBILS can now support lending to smaller businesses even where a lender considers there to be sufficient security, making more smaller businesses eligible to receive the Business Interruption Payment.