Finalised Guidance: Bounce Back Loan Scheme: guidance for firms using Pay as You Grow options

We want firms that provide Pay as You Grow (PAYG) options under the Government’s Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) to understand our expectations before they start collecting debts from customers.

Read the Finalised Guidance (PDF)

Why we’re publishing this guidance

This guidance aims to help firms understand how they can use and offer PAYG options, complying with Chapter 7 of our Consumer Credit Sourcebook (CONC) where it applies.

Who this applies to

This guidance applies to:

firms providing Bounce Back Loans

debt collection firms working on behalf of lenders collecting and recovering Bounce Back Loans

It’s also relevant to:

groups representing small businesses and small business borrowers, such as sole traders and small partnerships

debt advice bodies providing advice to the self-employed

Background

BBLS is a government scheme that enables smaller businesses to access finance more quickly during the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. On 24 September 2020, the Chancellor announced the introduction of PAYG – a system providing flexibility for repaying a Bounce Back Loan.

We consulted on proposed guidance to help firms in December 2020 and asked for comments. We received 9 responses from lenders, trade bodies and a consumer representative body.

We have summarised their responses and our feedback to them in our Feedback Statement .

This feedback statement summarises the feedback we received on our draft guidance and our response.

Next steps

This guidance will come into force on 27 January 2021 and remains in force unless we vary or revoke it. Guidance is relevant to firm behaviour only to the extent it is current at the time of the behaviour in question.

This guidance is without prejudice to the application of CONC 7 where it applies more generally.

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