How we rate lenders
Every lender FundBiz reviews is assessed with the same four-criterion framework and scored on a consistent 1-to-5 scale. The FundBiz editorial rating is our own desk-research assessment, not an aggregate of customer reviews: we read each lender's published rate and product terms, check the FCA register and Companies House, and judge how clearly the lender documents eligibility, pricing, speed and what happens after a decline. This page is the long version, and we date it whenever we change a criterion or a weight.
The four criteria
- Transparency. Does the lender publish a rate range with the criteria attached, or hide behind a "from X%" headline? We record the published band and what a borrower has to meet to reach it.
- Eligibility breadth. How wide is the door: minimum trading time, minimum turnover, accepted entity types and personal-guarantee requirements, documented up front rather than revealed only after a search.
- Decision speed. From application to a usable yes or no, in business days, measured against the lender's stated turnaround.
- Post-decline acceptance. How far the lender will engage with a file that mainstream lenders have already turned down: CCJs, thin files, prior declines, adverse credit. This is the criterion that matters most to many FundBiz readers.
How the overall rating is built
The headline editorial rating is built from those four sub-scores. We weight transparency and post-decline acceptance most heavily, because many FundBiz readers are looking at specialty finance or have been declined, and a clear, honest door matters more than a fractionally lower headline rate. The rating is an editorial judgement, not a measured fact, and it is the reason we publish this page: so a reader can see exactly what sits behind a number rather than taking it on trust.
What we measure with
- The lender's own published product sheets and rate tables.
- FCA Register entries (FRN, permissions, consumer-credit status).
- Companies House filings (company number, founding year, accounts, director history).
- Published lender eligibility and decline-handling criteria.
We don't score lenders on aggregated star ratings. Where we can't evidence a figure from a primary source, we leave it out rather than estimate it.
When we refresh a review
We re-check a lender when one of these triggers fires. A review is logged with the date, what was checked and the result, and the page shows "Last reviewed" only for a logged review:
- The lender publishes a change to product, rate or eligibility.
- A material change in regulatory status (FCA permission gained, varied or withdrawn).
- A change in the lender's published decline or post-decline handling.
- A Bank of England base rate move large enough to make rate-range comparisons stale.
Independence and conflict checks
Lenders don't pay FundBiz, and ratings aren't for sale. FundBiz is paid a fixed fee by a business finance broker for each enquiry we pass on, and that fee does not depend on which lender, if any, an applicant uses. FundBiz has no lender panel.
Methodology changes
When we change a weight, add a criterion or retire one, we say so here and date the change. We don't silently retro-edit live pages; the next refresh applies the new methodology.
Last updated: . Methodology version 1.0. Editorial by Best Business Loans Ltd (16833937).