Bounce Back Loans (BBLS) were introduced in March 2020 to help out struggling businesses. This period was the start of the first lockdown and that meant it was also the start of a really tough time for a lot of business owners, particularly those who worked in sectors such as hospitality.

Essentially, they offered a big lump of short-term cash that could have been used to fix some glaring financial concerns or it could have been invested with a view to long-term future planning. This amount of cash varied from £2,000 to £50,000. However, the amount that you could borrow was capped at 25% of your turnover from the previous year, or your estimated turnover.

Businesses that hadn’t already borrowed the full amount could also “top-up” their initial loan. The minimum amount that you could add onto the initial loan was £1,000.

Bounce Back Loans were completely backed by the state and required no repayments or interest within the first 12 months. After 12 months, banks charge a fixed 2.5% annual interest on top of their initial loan.

The BBLS has given out £46-billion since it came into action, helping millions of people in a time of crisis.

The Bounce Back Loan can be written off because it was given on behalf of the company and not the individual. If the company closes then the BBL will be written off through a Company liquidation. Check If You Qualify Online

The PAYG scheme is designed to offer a little bit of wriggle room for those who might not be completely on top of their payments. Making repayments might still feel like a step too far for many. However, there are ways around this.

One of the main benefits of the BBLS is the fact that the loan itself is unsecured. This means that the loan is taken out without any collateral such as property. We wouldn’t necessarily advocate unsecured loans but, in this instance, it might be beneficial because it comes with a government guarantee because they gave 100% security to the banks for these loans. However, government backing only comes into play if a business is declared insolvent, so a trading business that is still in operation will still have to pay the money back themselves.

Therefore, while company directors should feel a little relief, they should also be aware that governmental intervention is very much the last case scenario. They will still be expected to make repayments unless the situation gets very desperate.

The PAYG scheme allows a company who has taken out a Bounce Back Loan, three main ways of reducing the monthly financial burden if they are struggling to find the money to repay what they owe. If you cannot afford to repay your Bounce Back Loan, here is how the PAYG scheme could help:

1. The chance to delay repayments for six months. This is on top of the first-year payment holiday which you will have been given when you took out the Bounce Back Loan. You do not need to have made any repayment towards your Bounce Back Loan in order to qualify.

2. You can lengthen the term of the Bounce Back Loan from six years to ten years. By doing this, you can halve your monthly repayments which could make a huge difference to your cash flow during this time.

3. You can ask to make interest-only payments for six months. This will lessen the amount of your monthly repayment for these months, while also ensuring you are not paying any additional interest as you would if you took a payment holiday.

If your business goes through liquidation then the BBL will work in the same way as any other loan that was taken up in that time. This means that should the company become insolvent and needs to enter a formal liquidation process, the Bounce Back Loan will be included as a debt when your business closes.

There are two ways to push through with insolvency:

• A creditor forces you into liquidation but this is a long process, including a court case.
• Directors can push through the liquidation of the company themselves. This is known as a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation (CVL).

A licensed insolvency practitioner will go through the entire process and organise the whole procedure on your behalf.

The final result of the liquidation is that the company will no longer exist as a legal operator, and any debt remaining from this point forward will be written off unless it has previously been secured with a personal guarantee. A Bounce Back Loan is not classed as a personally liable loan.

A director can be made personally liable if payments are made in terms of preference as opposed to necessity. What this means is that payments were made to certain creditors while others were ignored. Using the loan to pay off certain creditors whilst simultaneously ignoring others.

A director might have also misused the bounce back loan. If the administrator or liquidator comes to analyse the situation, they could make you personally liable for that situation. Essentially, it is important that you are willing to follow the rules of the agreement when it is signed.

If you follow the agreement in good faith and knowledge, you are not likely to be left personally liable for any of the debts that come your way.