Secured Loans

A fixed rate secured loan is a loan that is secured against assets of value owned by the business. They also have a fixed rate of interest over an agreed term, which means that the interest rate will not change during this period subject to there being no event of default or other issue with the loan.

You’ll repay your loan over the agreed term. Interest and capital repayments will usually begin the month after you’ve taken out the loan, continuing on a monthly or quarterly basis. During your fixed term period, your interest payments will remain the same, unless you make an overpayment to reduce your repayments.

Fixed and variable rate loans differ in how interest rates are applied. A fixed rate loan will retain the same interest rate throughout the agreed fixed period. On the other hand, a variable rate loan follows an index rate of interest (usually Bank of England base rate), meaning it can move up or down depending on how that index rate fluctuates.

No, our fixed rate secured loans are open to both new and existing customers of Atom bank. We want to be able to support all small and medium enterprises (SMEs) during these uncertain times.

To apply, you’ll need to find an independent broker who will help you decide if Atom bank has the right type of secured business loan for you. They will assess your business needs and make a product recommendation, whether that is with us or someone else. If they think one of our loans is suitable, they will assist you in completing and submitting an application.

In a nutshell, the application process follows six key steps:

1. Speak to a broker about your options
2. Your broker applies to Atom on your behalf
3. We carry out a precautionary ID and business check
4. We assess your application and documentation to reach a decision in principle
5. Our partners undertake a valuation of any security property
6. We get back to you with a final decision

Yes, you can make either regular or lump sum overpayments with both fixed rate and variable products. For overpayments on fixed rate products, we will recalculate your regular repayments so that they’re reduced, but you can also opt to reduce the bullet repayment due at the end of your term.

In any given 12 month period, you can repay 10% of your outstanding loan balance without incurring an early repayment charge (ERC). In the final month of the loan, no ERC will be applicable. If you exceed this 10% allowance, you will incur a charge outlined in our BBSL Price List.

There is no Standard Variable Rate at the end of the fixed rate period for this product. At the end of the loan term, the options available to you are to repay the loan in full or refinance, either with us or elsewhere. Since there are no ERCs during the final month of the loan, you are able to refinance in good time, if necessary.

To apply for a fixed rate loan on behalf of a customer, you need to be registered with us — to do so you can call our Business Development Team on 0333 399 0060 or by finding and speaking to your local RBDM.

Once you’ve registered, you can log into Portal Lite, our broker platform for making and managing applications for your customers. You can then submit an application for a fixed rate loan and upload documentation to begin the application process.

Our fixed rate secured loans are currently offered through the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS).

As we’ve set out in our RLS lending criteria, there are certain conditions that need to be met before a business can apply for one of these loans.

To be eligible, your customer’s business must:

• Be UK-based in its business activity
• Self-certify that it has been impacted by COVID-19
• Provide suitable security for a secured loan in line with our commercial lending policy
• Have a borrowing proposal that Atom would consider viable in line with our commercial lending policy in place at time of application
• Be willing to undertake credit and fraud checks for all applicants
• Generate more than 50% of its turnover from trading activity (as defined by the British Business Bank, trading activity for RLS is any trading or commercial activity that generates turnover. Rental income (as long as it is UK based) is classified as a service income and is acceptable for RLS)
• Not be subject to any relevant insolvency proceedings or collective insolvency procedure under national law.

We do not lend to the following types of business through the RLS:

• Banks, building societies, insurers or reinsurers (excluding insurance brokers)
• Public sector bodies
• State funded primary or secondary schools.

Yes, your customer will be able to repay their fixed rate secured loan early, with some limits. They can choose to make regular or lump sum overpayments, from which we will recalculate their regular repayments (they can also choose to reduce the bullet repayment at the end of their loan term).

In any given 12-month period, they can choose to repay 10% of their outstanding fixed rate loan balance without incurring an early repayment charge (ERC). When they reach the final month of their loan term, ERCs will not be applicable. If the 10% allowance is exceeded, the charge incurred will be in line with those on our BBSL Price List and your customer’s Loan Agreement.