How Funding Circle and Iwoca Compare for Companies With CCJs

Funding Circle and Iwoca both lend to UK companies with County Court Judgments (CCJs) on file, but they weigh them differently. Iwoca tends to look past smaller, settled CCJs and decides within hours, while Funding Circle applies stricter affordability checks and usually funds within 48 hours. Both require a personal guarantee from a director.

How each lender treats a CCJ on the company file

A County Court Judgment is not an automatic refusal at either lender, but it shifts the conversation. Underwriters want to know the value, the age, whether it has been satisfied, and what caused it. A £450 CCJ from a disputed supplier invoice two years ago carries far less weight than three unsatisfied judgments totalling £18,000 in the last six months.

Iwoca takes a data-led approach. The application pulls bank transaction data through Open Banking, and the credit decision blends that with Companies House filings and bureau data from Experian. A single satisfied CCJ under £5,000 rarely blocks an application if turnover and cash flow look healthy. Unsatisfied CCJs are a harder hurdle, but not always fatal if the director can show the dispute or settlement plan.

Funding Circle runs a more traditional credit model. It scores the business and the director together, and judgments feed directly into that score. Multiple CCJs, or any single judgment over £1,000 left unsatisfied, will usually trigger a decline. Funding Circle has stated publicly that it lends to businesses with at least two years of filed accounts, and the credit threshold is higher than most alternative lenders.

What counts as a recoverable position

Both lenders distinguish between historical and current credit issues. Generally, a CCJ becomes much easier to work around once it is:

• Satisfied and marked as such on the public register at gov.uk's Registry Trust
• Older than 12 months
• Under £1,000 in value
• Backed by a clear explanation, ideally with supporting documents

If you have any unsatisfied CCJ, settle it before applying where possible. The £15 court fee to register satisfaction is the cheapest credit repair you will ever do. If you cannot settle, prepare a one-page note explaining the circumstances and attach it to your application.

Side-by-side comparison of the two lenders

The two products do different jobs. Iwoca leans towards short-term working capital and flexible drawdowns. Funding Circle leans towards term loans for growth or refinancing. A fuller breakdown sits in our iwoca vs funding circle piece, but the headline figures matter most when a CCJ is in play.

The minimum trading history gap is the single biggest filter. If your company is under two years old with a CCJ, Funding Circle is almost certainly a no. Iwoca will at least look. If you are an established business with three years of accounts and a settled CCJ, both are worth approaching.

Acceptance criteria in detail

Neither lender publishes a credit score cut-off, but the underwriting signals are well known.

Iwoca's signals

Iwoca built its underwriting around small businesses that traditional banks struggle with. The platform reads up to 12 months of bank statements through Open Banking, which means the decision relies more on current cash flow than historical credit events. Directors with personal credit blemishes, recent CCJs against the company, or thin filed accounts all get a fair hearing if the bank data is strong.

The bar they care about most:

• Average monthly turnover above £5,000 for the small loan product
• Limited company or LLP registered at Companies House (sole traders considered separately)
• UK-based with the director resident in the UK
• No active formal insolvency process
• Director willing to sign a personal guarantee

Iwoca's product mix also helps. The Iwoca Revolving Credit facility lets you draw smaller amounts repeatedly, which is often more achievable than a single large term loan when credit history is patchy. You can take £5,000 today, repay it in six weeks, and draw again without a fresh application.

Funding Circle's signals

Funding Circle is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and operates under the same Regulatory Compliance framework as the rest of the UK lending market, but its credit policy is noticeably tighter than Iwoca's. It originated as a peer-to-peer marketplace, and although it now lends from its own balance sheet, the legacy of investor risk appetite still shapes the model.

What Funding Circle looks for:

• Minimum two years of trading with filed accounts at Companies House
• Annual turnover usually above £50,000
• No active CCJs or, if present, fully satisfied and explained
• Director with a reasonable personal credit profile
• Profitability or a clear path to it in the last filed accounts
• Personal guarantee from all directors holding 20%+ of shares

One unsatisfied CCJ over £1,000 will almost always trigger a decline at Funding Circle. A satisfied CCJ from more than 12 months ago, with the rest of the credit file clean, may pass. The published funding circle business loans product is unsecured up to £250,000, with larger loans typically requiring a debenture.

Speed of decision and funding

Speed matters when a CCJ is involved because the credit position can deteriorate quickly. Iwoca's funded-within-hours promise is genuine for clean files. With a CCJ, expect an extra day while an underwriter reviews the file manually, but most decisions still land within 24 to 48 hours.

Funding Circle's typical 48-hour funding window applies to straightforward applications. A CCJ on file pushes the case into manual underwriting, and the realistic timeline becomes three to five working days. The underwriter will usually ask for the CCJ certificate of satisfaction, bank statements for the past six months, and a director's explanation.

If you need money in your account this week, Iwoca is the faster route. If you can wait a week and you have a stronger overall credit profile, Funding Circle's longer terms and lower rates may be worth the delay.

The application process step by step

Both applications start online and take roughly 10 minutes to complete. The differences appear in what happens next.

Iwoca:

• Online form with basic company details
• Open Banking connection to your business bank account
• Soft credit check on the directors
• Initial decision usually within one hour
• Personal guarantee signed electronically
• Funds released the same or next working day

Funding Circle:

• Online form with company and director details
• Upload of recent bank statements and last filed accounts
• Hard credit search on the business and directors
• Underwriter review, usually within 24 hours
• Loan offer with fixed monthly repayment schedule
• Personal guarantee and debenture (where applicable) executed
• Funds released within 48 hours of acceptance

The hard credit search at Funding Circle leaves a footprint on the director's file. Iwoca's initial check is soft, with a hard check only run once you accept an offer. If you are shopping around with a CCJ, the order matters. Start with the soft-check lender.

Costs and rates with a CCJ on file

Both lenders price for risk, and a CCJ pushes the rate up. Published representative rates do not apply to credit-impaired files.

Iwoca's pricing starts at around 2% per month for the small loan product and can rise to roughly 6% per month for higher-risk cases. There is no early repayment penalty, so a six-month loan settled in three months only carries three months of interest. That flexibility is genuinely useful when your cash flow is improving.

Funding Circle quotes annual percentage rates from around 6.9% to 26.5% on its standard product. With a CCJ on file, expect to be priced at the upper end. The rate is fixed for the term, and early repayment is allowed without penalty, but you still pay interest accrued to the settlement date. The Funding Circle refinance calculator lets you model whether settling an existing facility and taking a new one makes financial sense at your current rate.

A worked example. A £30,000 loan over 12 months:

• Iwoca at 4% per month: total repayable around £37,800, average monthly cost £3,150
• Funding Circle at 19% APR: total repayable around £33,200, average monthly cost £2,767

Funding Circle is cheaper on paper, but Iwoca's flexibility on early repayment can close the gap if your cash flow lets you settle early. Run both numbers before deciding.

Product alternatives within each lender

Term loans are not the only option at either provider.

Funding Circle's line of credit

The Funding Circle Line of Credit, branded FlexiPay, lets you spread the cost of supplier invoices over three monthly instalments. It is a different credit decision from the term loan, and some businesses with CCJs get approved for FlexiPay when the term loan is declined. The fee is a flat percentage of each transaction, currently around 3% per spread, with no interest on top.

Iwoca's flexible facility

Beyond the standard loan, Iwoca's revolving credit line gives you an approved limit you can draw against as needed. Interest accrues only on what you use. For a business managing seasonal cash flow with a CCJ in the background, this often works better than a lump sum loan you start paying back immediately. The Iwoca refinance calcultor helps you compare drawdown costs against a fixed term equivalent.

What to do if both lenders decline

Rejection from Funding Circle or Iwoca is not the end of the road. The UK alternative lending market has perhaps 40 active providers, and each has its own appetite. Some specialise in credit-impaired files.

Options to consider:

• Asset finance against vehicles, plant or equipment, where the asset value matters more than the credit file
• Invoice finance, where the credit decision sits with your debtors' covenant strength
• Merchant cash advances, repaid as a percentage of card sales
• Secured loans against commercial or residential property
• Specialist bad credit lenders such as Capify, YouLend or 365 Business Finance

For a wider view of the market and where each provider sits, our roundup of the best sme lenders uk bad credit ranks the realistic options for directors with CCJs, defaults, or recent missed payments. If you have been declined by Iwoca specifically, our list of iwoca alternatives covers the closest substitutes by speed and loan size.

Improving your position before reapplying

If you have been declined, wait at least 60 days before reapplying to the same lender. Use that window to:

• Settle the CCJ and obtain the certificate of satisfaction
• Bring all VAT and PAYE filings up to date with HMRC
• File any overdue confirmation statements at Companies House
• Build three to six months of clean trading data through your business bank account
• Reduce reliance on existing overdrafts or credit cards

Credit files refresh monthly. A CCJ stays on the register for six years from the date of the judgment, but its impact fades quickly once satisfied. Bureau scores can recover meaningfully within three to six months of consistent good conduct.

Real-world experience from directors

The published reviews give a sense of what each lender is like to deal with when things are not straightforward. The Funding Circle review from Tom Smith covers a refinance application where a historical CCJ came up during underwriting. The Iwoca review from Andreas Kotsos describes a same-day funding experience for a business with a thin credit file.

Common themes from director feedback:

• Iwoca underwriters tend to call and discuss the file. Funding Circle communicates more by email and portal.
• Iwoca will often counter-offer a smaller amount rather than decline outright. Funding Circle is more binary.
• Both lenders enforce personal guarantees strictly. Default consequences are real.
• Customer service responsiveness is rated higher for Iwoca in independent reviews on Trustpilot.

If the relationship matters to you and you expect to need finance again within 12 months, Iwoca's account management model is generally easier to live with. If you want a one-off larger sum at the lowest possible rate and your credit is borderline-acceptable, Funding Circle is worth the effort.

How a CCJ actually shows up in the credit decision

Both lenders pull data from Experian Business and check directors against personal bureau records held by Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. A CCJ registered against a limited company appears on the Experian Business file with the date, court, amount and satisfaction status. A judgment against a director personally sits on the consumer file for six years from the judgment date, as confirmed by the Ministry of Justice guidance on judgments.

What the underwriter sees:

• The court reference and date of judgment
• The original creditor and amount
• Whether the judgment is satisfied, and the date of satisfaction
• Any associated charges or High Court enforcement activity

What they cannot see, and what you should tell them:

• Whether the debt was disputed
• Whether you knew about the original claim form (defaults often happen because the claim went to an old address)
• What the underlying commercial issue was
• What has changed since

A short, factual explanation submitted with the application makes a measurable difference. Underwriters at both lenders have discretion within policy, and context tips marginal decisions.

Choosing between them: a practical framework

Use this checklist to narrow the decision before you apply.

Choose Iwoca if:

• You need funds within 48 hours
• Your CCJ is unsatisfied or recent
• Your company has less than two years of filed accounts
• You want to borrow under £50,000
• You prefer flexible drawdowns to a single term loan
• You expect to settle the loan early

Choose Funding Circle if:

• Your CCJ is satisfied and over 12 months old
• You have two or more years of filed accounts
• You want to borrow £50,000 or more
• You prefer a fixed monthly repayment over a longer term
• The lowest possible rate is your priority
• You can wait three to five working days for a decision

If you are unsure, apply to Iwoca first. The soft credit check means no harm to your file if declined, and a fast decision either confirms the route or frees you to look elsewhere. If a wider comparison helps, the field of funding circle competitors includes several lenders that sit between the two on credit appetite and speed.

Final advice and next steps

A CCJ is a hurdle, not a wall. Both Funding Circle and Iwoca approve credit-impaired files regularly, and the right choice depends on the age and size of the judgment, the strength of your trading data, and how quickly you need the money.

Before you apply to either lender, do these five things:

• Pull your business credit report from Experian and your personal credit reports from all three consumer bureaux. Free statutory reports are available from each.
• Settle any open CCJs you can afford to clear, and obtain the certificate of satisfaction within 30 days to update the public register.
• Bring HMRC filings up to date. Late VAT or PAYE returns are visible signals to underwriters even when no formal default has been registered.
• Connect your business bank account to a free Open Banking dashboard for two months before applying, so you can see what the underwriter will see.
• Write a one-page director's statement explaining any adverse credit, what caused it, and what has changed.

Then apply to Iwoca first for the soft-check decision, and to Funding Circle second if you want a larger or longer-term facility and your credit profile supports it. If both decline, the bad credit specialist market is broader than most directors realise, and a broker with access to 30-plus lenders can usually find a workable option within a week.