Eligibility & decisions
Bad credit business van leasing
Credit is read by a person here, not only by a score, and FleetMe is the lessor, so the decision is ours to make and ours to explain. Good and fair profiles are the most straightforward. If your company carries judgments or defaults we will look at it and give you a straight answer quickly, but we will not pretend the answer is likely to be yes, and we will not take an application we expect to decline.
Your agreement is with FleetMe · we confirm your quote in writing · new limited companies considered
We assess it, rather than pass it on
Most sites you will land on searching this are brokers. They take your details, put them in front of a panel of funders and come back with whatever the panel says, which is why the answer can take days and why nobody can tell you what actually went wrong.
FleetMe is the lessor. We supply the vehicle, the hire agreement is between your business and us, and the credit decision is ours. That matters with imperfect credit for one practical reason: we can look at the circumstances behind a mark on a file rather than only at the mark itself, and if the answer is no we can tell you exactly why and what would change it.
What we will not do is promise an outcome before the assessment. Anyone promising approval to a business they have not assessed is either not the one making the decision, or not being straight with you.
What a judgment or default actually does to an application
A county court judgment or a default is a fact on a file, not an automatic decline. What it does to the assessment depends on four things: how old it is, whether it has been satisfied, how large it was, and what caused it.
A satisfied judgment from three years ago reads very differently from an unsatisfied one from last quarter. A single default during a bad trading period, with clean payment behaviour either side of it, reads differently again from a pattern. Where something was disputed, or arose from a customer who did not pay, say so at the point of application rather than waiting to be asked, context you supply up front is context that can be taken into account.
Both the company file and the directors’ personal files form part of this, and they are separate records. It is common for one to carry a mark while the other is clean, and that combination is often workable.
A director’s guarantee is the most direct lever
A personal guarantee from a director means that if the company cannot meet the rentals, the director undertakes to. It shifts risk off the business and onto the person signing, which is precisely why it can make an otherwise marginal application work.
It is a real commitment and it should not be signed casually. A guarantee is enforceable against your personal assets, it typically survives your leaving the company unless it is formally released, and it is not limited to the next payment. It can extend to the whole obligation under the agreement.
Read what you are signing, take your own advice if you are unsure, and be clear about what is being guaranteed and for how long. Our guide to director guarantees sets out what one commits you to before you decide.
A larger initial rental changes the arithmetic
The other lever is the one you already control: how much you put in at the start. A larger initial rental reduces how much is exposed across the rest of the term, and a proposition that looked marginal at three rentals up front can look straightforward at nine.
It also lowers the monthly figure, which helps the affordability side of the assessment at the same time. The total across the term moves much less, so this is mainly a cash-flow decision rather than a cost one.
If the credit position is difficult, it is worth asking us to quote the same vehicle at two or three different initial rentals so you can see where the answer changes. Our page on initial rentals explains how the profiles work.
What genuinely helps before you apply
File on time. Overdue accounts or a late confirmation statement at Companies House damage a company score for reasons that have nothing to do with whether you can afford a van, and they are among the easiest things to fix.
Satisfy what you can. A satisfied judgment still appears, but it reads as something dealt with rather than something outstanding.
Get the evidence together first. Bank statements, management accounts and a clear picture of existing commitments let affordability be demonstrated rather than assumed, and with imperfect credit that is the part doing the most work.
Be realistic about the vehicle. A standard panel van is a simpler proposition than a specialist conversion, and choosing a rental the business can comfortably carry in its quiet months is worth more to an assessment than any amount of explanation.
And if the answer is still no
Sometimes it will be, and we would rather say so quickly than keep you waiting. If we cannot help we will tell you why and what would need to change, whether that is time, a satisfied judgment, a larger initial rental or a guarantee.
A decline is also not permanent. Circumstances that are recent and unresolved carry the most weight, and both of those change. Plenty of businesses that were turned down are straightforward a year later.
How we work: FleetMe supplies the vehicle and the agreement is with us. Limited companies and LLPs take business contract hire; sole traders take vehicle hire. Either way the longest term is 12 months. Quotes are indicative until your vehicle, term, mileage and rental are confirmed in writing.
Who we can help: Good and fair credit profiles are the most straightforward. New limited companies with no trading history are considered. Commercial underwriting weighs the business and its directors alongside its filed accounts. None of that is a promise of approval, and we will always tell you if we cannot help.
General information about business vehicle leasing. It is not tax, accounting or legal advice. Your accountant should confirm how any of this applies to your business.
Questions, answered
Can I lease a van with bad credit?
Sometimes, and it is assessed on the facts rather than on a score alone. Good and fair profiles are the most straightforward, so be realistic: if the file is badly damaged we are probably not the right lessor, and we would rather say that in a phone call than after a credit search. We will not promise an outcome before the assessment.
Can a business with an unsatisfied CCJ lease a van?
It can be considered. An unsatisfied judgment carries more weight than a satisfied one, and the size, age and reason behind it all matter. Satisfying it before applying helps, and telling us the context up front helps more than leaving it to be found.
Will a director guarantee get it approved?
It improves a marginal case, sometimes decisively, because it moves risk from the company to the director. It is not an automatic approval, and it is a real personal commitment enforceable against your own assets, read what you are signing before you offer one.
How big an initial rental would I need?
There is no fixed figure. More up front reduces the exposure across the term and lowers the monthly rental, so it helps on two fronts at once. Ask us to quote the same vehicle at a few different profiles and you will see where the answer moves.
Do you run a credit check?
Yes. The company file is searched and directors are usually searched too, and you are told before that happens. Any business leasing a vehicle to you will assess credit, a supplier claiming otherwise is worth a second look.
Does my personal credit matter if the lease is in the company name?
Usually yes, particularly while the company is young, because a young company borrows its credibility from the people running it. A clean personal profile can carry a thin or marked company file a long way.
I am a sole trader with poor credit, can you help?
As a sole trader you are an individual, so the product for you is vehicle hire of up to 12 months rather than a lease. Business contract hire over terms up to 12 months is for limited companies and LLPs, so incorporating is the step that opens up everything on this page.
Tell us about the business
One short form covering the vehicle, the term and the mileage you need. We come back with a written quote, and we aim to do that the same working day. We will tell you if we cannot help.
Enquiry received, one step to go.
We can put a guide figure together from what you’ve told us. To confirm the vehicle, the monthly rental and a delivery date in writing, we need your business details and the underwriting information.
Next step · about 5 minutes
Complete your business application
It’s pre-filled from your answers. Nothing is committed until we confirm your quote and you sign.
Continue to my application →No obligation · About 5 minutes
Prefer to leave it there? We’ll still be in touch about your enquiry.
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Related
Guide information · last reviewed October 2026. Every business is different, so nothing here is a decision. We assess each enquiry on its own facts and confirm the outcome to you directly.