Lending Appeals
As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting Scottish business, we’re working with the British Bankers' Association to find ways that the industry can improve customer relationships. Under this initiative you have the right to appeal if your application for borrowing is declined or if you are unhappy with lending conditions.
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If your application is declined and you believe we haven’t taken into account all of your circumstances, you have the right to appeal our decision. You need to submit your appeal within 30 days of the date of the decline letter.
If you do wish to appeal, please let us know if there is any other information you could show us in support of your appeal.
You can call our business management team on 0345 300 0268 to make an appeal. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, except on UK bank holidays. Please quote ‘Lending application' if you call us so we can get you to the right team as quickly as possible.
If your circumstances have changed, we'd be happy to reassess your application.
You also have the right to appeal if you’re unhappy with the conditions relating to agreed lending, such as the need to provide security, regular financial trading information or up-to-date property valuations.
Appeals can only be submitted before you draw down on the credit facility. You cannot appeal the proposed costs of agreed lending, such as interest rates, fees and costs or the standard terms and conditions, nor appeal after funds have been drawn down.
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You can appeal the decline decision and have it independently reviewed by a specialist in our lending appeals team.
You also have the right to appeal conditions relating to your requested lending, but not the proposed costs of lending, such as interest rates, fees and costs, or the standard terms and conditions.
You can call our business management team on 0345 300 0268 to make an appeal. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, except on UK bank holidays. Please quote ‘Lending application' if you call us so we can get you to the right team as quickly as possible.
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Any business borrowing facility, for example: loans, overdrafts, commercial mortgages, business credit cards, invoice financing, asset finance, and trade finance.
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You can appeal following any formally declined lending decision. An application is considered formal when all relevant information that enables a decision to be reached has been provided to us in line with our Finance application checklist.
You can also appeal any of the conditions relating to your requested lending, but not the proposed costs of agreed lending such as interest rates, fees and costs or our standard terms and conditions. If you submit an appeal relating to lending condition(s), this could delay how long it takes for us to put your new lending facility in place, although we aim to deal with 90 per cent of all appeals within 30 days of receipt.
Requesting an appeal does not guarantee that a decline decision will be overturned.
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You or your intermediary has 30 calendar days from the date of the declined letter to appeal our decision. We keep to a 30-day maximum because the information you provided at the time of your original application can become outdated. After 30 days, we suggest you talk to our business management team about a new application.
If you wish to appeal any of the conditions relating to your requested lending, this should be done before you sign the lending documentation. Appeals cannot be submitted if they relate to specific lending conditions after you draw down on the lending facility.
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The information you provided at the time of your original application can become out of date. In this situation we recommend you speak to our business management team or your Relationship Manager about a new application.
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An appeal can be made by either you or your intermediary.
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If your lending application has been accepted but you do not like the price of the offer, this needs to be discussed with our business management team or your Relationship Manager. If you are still unhappy with the way we have dealt with your enquiry, you have the right to pursue a formal complaint. Find out more about our complaints procedure.
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If your lending application has been accepted but you do not like the price of the offer, this needs to be discussed with our business management team or your Relationship Manager. If you are still unhappy with the way we have dealt with your enquiry, you have the right to pursue a formal complaint. Find out more about our complaints procedure.
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If the reason for the decline is specifically due to an adverse credit history such as County Court Judgements (CCJ's) or payment defaults, then your application can be appealed. However, you may need to obtain a full copy of your credit file from a Credit Reference Agency, and be able to prove that an error has occurred or that the circumstances of the adverse information were exceptional. Credit Reference Agencies hold information that helps lenders establish individuals' credit record.
You are legally entitled to see all the information held about you by any Credit Reference Agency by writing to them at Experian Limited, Consumer Help Service, PO Box 8000, Nottingham, NG80 7WF. Details of fees can be found on www.experian.co.uk or by calling 0344 481 0800.
If your circumstances have changed significantly since the time of the original application and you would like to re-apply, we would be happy to consider a new application.
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You can appeal if you feel that we’ve not taken into account all of your circumstances or that, following a discussion with our business management team or your Relationship Manager, your application should have been approved. However, it may be necessary to contact you to clarify any queries that may arise from the review or to ask for additional information. If your circumstances have changed significantly since the time of the original application and you would like to re-apply on that basis, we’d be happy to consider a new application.
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We would not automatically review lending decisions. Our business management team and Relationship Managers often work with credit specialists, to ensure they have correctly assessed applications. More complex lending requests are often reviewed by more than one credit specialist to ensure that your application has been fully considered.
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An appeal can only be made after a decline decision, following a formal application (see Under what circumstances can I appeal?). Our business management team and Relationship Managers are highly skilled in assessing whether we have the right financial products to help you. They can work with you on future lending applications and if necessary, talk to you about alternative sources of finance and other support.
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We'll send you a letter confirming we've received your appeal. The target agreed by the industry is to ensure customers' appeals are reviewed and that they are informed of the outcome within 30 calendar days of the date of this letter. However, we commit to resolve 90 per cent of appeals within 15 working days.
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We will write to inform you of the outcome of the appeal and if you are happy for us to proceed, we will continue to process your application.
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We will write to you confirming the outcome of the appeal. If your circumstances have changed significantly since the time of the original application and you would like to re-apply, we would be happy to consider a new application.
If this is not the case, we’ll be happy to talk to you about how we can work together to present a stronger lending proposition in the future. We’re dedicated to helping UK businesses thrive throughout the economic cycle. Therefore, we want to ensure you have the support you need to make your business stronger.
* A Micro-Enterprise is defined as a business that employs fewer than 10 persons and has a turnover or annual balance sheet that does not exceed €2million.
ANY PROPERTY GIVEN AS SECURITY, WHICH MAY INCLUDE YOUR HOME, MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE OR OTHER DEBTS SECURED ON IT.
All lending is subject to a satisfactory credit assessment and we will need your permission to carry out a credit check on you and your business.
You should not apply for an amount that you cannot comfortably afford to repay now and in the future to avoid the possibility of legal action.
All lending is subject to status. Security may be required.
While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information provided is correct, no liability is accepted by Bank of Scotland for any loss or damage caused to any person relying on any statement or omission. This is for information only and should not be relied upon as offering advice for any set of circumstances. Specific advice should always be sought in each instance.