The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), delivered by the British Business Bank, is designed to help support primarily small and medium-sized businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts.

The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value. Under the scheme, businesses can access the first 12 months of that finance interest free, as the government will cover the first 12 months of interest payments.

If you have clients looking to submit an application, they should be aware of what they need to submit when making an application.

Firstly, your clients will need to provide loan details: the amount they would like to borrow, what the money is for and the period over which they will make the repayments.

They will also need to provide certain evidence to show that they can afford to repay the loan. This is likely to include management accounts, cash flow forecasts, business plan, historic accounts and details of assets.

For clients approaching their existing lenders for a smaller facility, the process may be automated and therefore may not require the same level of documentation.