Asset finance for agricultural machinery dealers
We give agricultural machinery dealers a finance route to offer customers at the point of sale, including customers whose own bank has already said no. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
- New, used and auction-bought machinery
- Repayment profiles built around farm cash flow
- A second look at deals the bank has declined
- Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited
CW Asset Finance is an asset finance broker based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. We work with agricultural machinery dealerships that want a finance option to put in front of a customer while the customer is still standing in the yard, rather than sending them away to arrange funding on their own and hoping they come back. We are a credit broker and not a lender: we do not lend our own money, we present a proposal to funders who do, and any agreement is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Farm income does not arrive in twelve equal instalments. It arrives at harvest, at weaning, at milk cheque, at the point a contract is settled, and it moves with weather, yields and commodity prices. Subsidy and support payments have been in flux for years, and the timing of those receipts is no longer something a farmer can plan a repayment schedule around with confidence. A finance agreement written on a flat monthly profile can look perfectly affordable on paper in February and be genuinely awkward in the middle of a wet autumn. Part of the value a broker adds is asking the funder for a structure that matches the way the money actually comes in.
We are an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 630701. Rural Finance’s business is built around rural and agricultural lending, which means the people behind us are not learning what a self-propelled forager is on the way to the credit committee. We are also members of the NACFB.
Finance that fits the farming year
The single most common reason a farm customer hesitates over a machinery purchase is not the headline cost. It is the shape of the outgoing. A dealer can lose a deal in the last five minutes because the customer cannot see how the payments sit alongside a year where most of the income lands in a six-week window.
Depending on the funder, the asset and the customer’s circumstances, we can ask for structures such as:
- Annual or seasonal payment profiles timed to harvest, milk cheque or contract settlement
- Deferred or reduced payments in the early months while a machine starts earning
- Balloon or residual structures on assets with a predictable resale value, to keep regular payments lower
- Terms extended over the realistic working life of the machine rather than a standard default
- Hire purchase where the customer wants ownership at the end, or leasing where the accounting treatment suits them better
None of these are automatic. Every one of them is a request we make to a funder on the customer’s behalf, and every one of them depends on the customer’s circumstances and the funder’s decision. What we can say is that asking is free, and a dealer who can say “we can look at payments that work around your year” keeps a conversation alive that would otherwise end at the price.
Used machinery, auctions and private sales
Agriculture has one of the deepest used markets of any sector. A well-kept tractor at ten years old with sensible hours is a serious working asset, not a write-off, and a large share of dealer trade is in kit that a high-street lender’s standard age policy would refuse on sight. Funders vary enormously in what they will consider on age, hours, make and condition, and the difference between a decline and an acceptance is often simply which desk the proposal lands on.
Auction purchases bring their own problem, which is the clock. The hammer falls, a deposit is due, and full settlement is typically expected within days. That timetable does not sit well with a lending process that assumes weeks of consideration. Where a customer is buying at auction it is far better to have the funding conversation before the sale, so they know what they are working with and can bid accordingly, rather than after they have already committed.
We can look at:
- New machinery supplied by your dealership
- Used and dealer-refurbished machinery, including older stock
- Machinery bought at auction, where the customer has spoken to us beforehand
- Private sales and machinery moving between farms
- Refinance of machinery a customer already owns outright, to release working capital
- Trailed and mounted implements, handling and grain kit, and other non-self-propelled assets
All of it is subject to status, affordability, the asset itself and lender approval, and not every proposal will be placed.
When the bank has already said no
This is the part most relevant to a dealer’s bottom line. A farm customer picks a machine, goes to their bank, and the bank declines or offers something unworkable. In most dealerships that is the end of it. The customer goes quiet, the deal dies, and the machine sits on the yard for another quarter. Nobody rings the dealer to explain why.
Placing deals for customers who have been declined by their bank is a core part of what we do. A high-street decline is frequently not a judgement on whether the customer is good for the money. It is the output of a credit-scoring model that does not know what to do with lumpy seasonal income, with a partnership or a family farming structure, with a set of accounts showing a deliberately low drawn profit, with land held in one entity and the trading business in another, or with a recent bad year in an otherwise sound business. Specialist asset finance funders look at those situations differently, because the machine itself is security and because they understand the sector.
What this means in practice for your dealership:
- A declined customer is a second conversation rather than a lost sale
- We will tell you honestly and quickly if a case is not placeable, so you are not left waiting
- The customer hears the outcome from us, not from you, which keeps your relationship with them intact
- Where a case cannot be placed today, we will explain what would need to change for it to work later
We want to be clear about what we are not saying. We are not saying every declined deal can be rescued, and nobody honest would. Finance is never certain, no outcome is promised or implied, and every proposal remains subject to status, affordability and lender approval. What we are saying is that a bank decline is not automatically the end of the sale, and it is worth one phone call before you write the deal off.
Setting up a working arrangement with your dealership
Dealers work with us in different ways, and the right one depends on how involved you want to be and on your own regulatory position. Some dealers simply pass on our details and let the customer come to us directly. Some want to introduce customers formally. Some want finance built into the sales process so that a payment option is discussed alongside the specification.
There is an important point to make here rather than gloss over. Where a dealer introduces customers to a broker or lender for credit, that activity can itself be a regulated activity, and depending on the customer and the type of agreement the dealer may need to be appointed as an Introducer Appointed Representative under an authorised principal. It is not simply a matter of sending names over and being paid for it. Any dealer who tells you otherwise is not doing you a favour.
So the honest version is this: talk to us, tell us how you would like it to work, and we will talk you through what an arrangement would involve, including any FCA appointment that would be required and who would be responsible for what. If an arrangement is not appropriate for your business we will say so, and we can still help your customers directly.
Practical things we can do either way:
- Talk to a customer while they are still with you, so the finance question is dealt with in the room
- Give you a straight indication of whether a case looks workable before anyone raises expectations
- Handle the paperwork and the funder conversations so your sales staff are not chasing lenders
- Keep you updated on progress, within what the customer has agreed we can share
CW Asset Finance is a trading name of Conor Hull, an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701). We act as a credit broker and not a lender, and we may receive a commission from the lender for arranging finance. Details of any commission arrangement are available on request.
Common questions
Can you arrange finance on machinery bought at auction?
Yes, subject to status, the asset and lender approval, but the timing matters a great deal. Auction terms usually require a deposit on the fall of the hammer and full settlement within a few days, which is a tight window for any lending decision. The workable approach is for the customer to speak to us before the sale so they know what funding is likely to be available and can bid within it. Trying to arrange finance after a successful bid, against an auction house deadline, is where most of these deals come unstuck.
A customer’s bank has declined them. Is it worth sending them to you?
Usually yes. A high-street decline is often a scoring outcome rather than a considered view of the business. Seasonal income, partnership and family farming structures, deliberately low drawn profits, land and trading held in separate entities, or one poor year in an otherwise sound operation can all trigger a decline from a model that does not understand agriculture. Specialist asset finance funders assess those cases differently and take the machine itself as security. We cannot promise an outcome, and any proposal remains subject to status, affordability and lender approval, but the case is worth putting in front of us before you write the sale off.
How old can a used machine be before lenders lose interest?
There is no single answer, because appetite varies widely between funders and by asset type. Some funders take a hard line on age; others are far more interested in hours, condition, make and how readily the machine would sell again if they ever had to take it back. Agriculture has a deep and liquid used market, which helps. A well-specified older tractor or trailed implement with a genuine resale value can be perfectly financeable when a newer but niche asset is not. Send us the details and we will tell you quickly whether it is workable.
Can repayments be arranged around the farming year?
This is one of the most useful things a broker can ask for. Depending on the funder and the customer’s circumstances, we can request annual or seasonal payment profiles timed to harvest, milk cheque or contract settlement, deferred or reduced payments while a machine starts earning, or a balloon structure to keep regular payments lower on an asset with predictable resale value. None of these are standard or automatic. They are requests we put to funders on the customer’s behalf, and the funder decides. But asking costs nothing and it frequently makes the difference between a deal that closes and one that stalls on affordability.
What is involved in setting up a referral arrangement with my dealership?
It depends on how you want it to work and on your own regulatory position. Introducing customers for credit can be a regulated activity, and depending on the customer and the type of agreement your dealership may need to be appointed as an Introducer Appointed Representative under an authorised principal. It is not a case of simply sending names across. The sensible first step is a conversation: tell us how you would like finance to sit within your sales process and we will talk you through what an arrangement would involve, including any FCA appointment required and where the responsibilities sit. If it is not appropriate for your business we will say so.
Other sectors
Start a conversation
Tell us what you sell and the kind of deals you struggle to place. We will come back on whether we are a useful partner — and say so plainly if we are not.
Talk to us about a partnership
One reply, from Conor himself, usually the same working day.
CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and may receive a commission from the lender that funds an agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval. Nothing on this page is a quote or an offer of finance, and no outcome on any application is implied or promised. Any introducer arrangement is subject to the appropriate regulatory permissions being in place, which we will discuss with you before it begins. CW Asset Finance is an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701).