A finance partner for HGV and commercial truck dealers
We work alongside truck dealers to fund customer purchases — including the deals a customer’s own bank has already turned down. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and all finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
- 60+ lenders searched, including manual-underwriting specialists
- Owner-drivers, new-starts and established fleets considered
- Bank declines reviewed rather than written off
- A named contact in Tadcaster, not a call centre queue
Most truck dealers already have a funding route of some kind — a manufacturer captive, a panel arrangement, or simply the customer going to their own bank. Those routes work well for the deals that fit them. The problem is the deals that do not: the owner-driver with two years of figures, the haulier with a historic CCJ, the operator buying a used unit at auction, the customer whose bank has quietly reduced its appetite for road transport. Those deals do not usually fail because the business cannot afford the truck. They fail because they fall outside one lender’s credit box.
That is where we come in. CW Asset Finance is a whole-of-market broker based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, and an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited (FCA FRN 630701). We are a credit broker, not a lender. We place commercial vehicle deals with funders whose appetite actually fits them — including specialists who underwrite by hand, take a view on the asset’s resale value, and understand what a truck earns rather than only what a scorecard says.
For a dealer, the value is straightforward: a deal you would otherwise have lost gets a second, properly targeted look. We are not trying to displace your existing funders. We are the option you reach for when they say no, when the term needs to run longer than they will go, or when the asset is older or more specialist than a generalist funder will value.
What we place for truck dealers
We arrange finance across the full commercial vehicle range, new and used, from single-unit purchases through to fleet replacement programmes.
- Tractor units — 4x2 and 6x2, new and used, main dealer stock and auction purchases.
- Rigids — from 7.5t through to 32t, including tippers, curtainsiders, dropsides and hookloaders.
- Trailers — curtainsiders, flatbeds, tippers, tankers, low-loaders and refrigerated units.
- Bodies, conversions and ancillaries — tail-lifts, cranes, refrigeration units, beavertails and specialist bodywork, whether supplied with the chassis or fitted afterwards.
- Refinance of existing fleet — releasing capital from owned vehicles, which can fund a deposit on the next purchase.
Structures include hire purchase, finance lease and, where it suits the customer, balloon or seasonal payment profiles. Terms on a tractor unit commonly run to five years, and trailers — which hold value over a much longer working life — can often be written over longer still. The right structure depends on the customer’s VAT position, whether they want to own the asset at the end, and how they account for it. We will talk that through with them directly so you do not have to.
Operator licensing, financial standing and why it shapes the deal
This is the part generalist brokers tend to miss, and it materially affects how a truck deal should be structured.
Every GB haulier needs an operator’s licence, and holding one means satisfying the Traffic Commissioner on financial standing: demonstrating a set level of available funds for the first vehicle and a further amount for each additional vehicle, with the figures reviewed and uprated periodically. Available funds generally means money the operator can actually reach — bank balances, an agreed overdraft or a credit facility. It does not mean the value of the vehicles themselves.
The practical consequence is that a large cash deposit can be self-defeating. A customer who empties their account to put 20 per cent down on a unit may weaken the very bank balances they need to evidence at licence renewal or when applying to add vehicles to the licence. A lower-deposit structure, or a profile that keeps working capital intact, can be the difference between a customer who can operate the truck and one who cannot. We will raise that with the customer as part of the conversation, and shape the deal accordingly — always subject to what lenders will actually support.
- Vehicles must be specified on the licence, and the operator needs lawful possession — hire purchase and lease agreements are ordinarily compatible with that, but the paperwork and the delivery date need to line up.
- Trailers are not specified on a GB operator’s licence, which removes one timing pressure, though a funder still needs to be comfortable valuing the asset.
- Licence margin matters — a customer buying a vehicle they have no authorisation to run is a problem worth catching before the order, not after.
None of this is legal advice, and the current financial standing figures should always be checked against the Traffic Commissioner’s published rates. The point is simply that a broker who understands the licence will not accidentally structure a deal that undermines it.
When the bank says no: saving the sale
This is the reason most dealers end up working with us. A customer has agreed the truck, taken the demo, agreed the trade-in — and then their bank declines. At that point the dealer usually has three options: watch the deal die, wait weeks while the customer tries somewhere else, or hand it to someone who can place it quickly.
High-street banks assess commercial vehicle finance largely through automated scorecards tuned to a narrow profile: three years of filed accounts, steady monthly turnover, a clean credit file, a familiar asset. Road transport regularly falls outside that. Common reasons a truck deal gets declined:
- New-start or thin trading history — the owner-driver going limited after years of driving for someone else, with a contract in hand but no filed accounts.
- Historic adverse credit — a CCJ or default that has long since been settled but still trips the scorecard.
- Sector appetite — a bank pulling back from road transport as a category, irrespective of the individual customer.
- Asset age — a seven-year-old unit that a generalist funder will not value, even though it has years of economic life left.
- Auction and trade purchases — where the funder wants an invoice from a recognised supplier and the customer has a hammer price.
- Lumpy income — seasonal or contract-driven turnover read as instability by an affordability algorithm.
A specialist asset finance lender looks at the same file differently. Many underwrite manually, weigh resale value in a liquid used-truck market, and take a view on the operator’s experience. That is why the same deal can be declined in one place and supported in another. It is not certain — nothing here is, and every case remains subject to status, affordability and lender approval — but it happens often enough that a decline should not be the end of your sale.
One practical request: send the deal to us before the customer starts making further applications elsewhere. Every full application typically leaves a hard search, and a cluster of searches in a short window is itself read as a risk signal by the next funder. Two or three speculative attempts can turn a placeable deal into an unplaceable one.
What a dealer arrangement actually involves
We would rather set this out honestly than pitch it as free money for sending over names.
How your customers reach us depends on the arrangement we agree. The simplest version is a straightforward signpost: you give the customer our details and they contact us directly. A closer arrangement, where you actively introduce customers or discuss finance as part of the sale, carries regulatory obligations that need to be dealt with properly first.
The detail matters because of who your customer is. Agreements with limited companies are generally outside the FCA consumer credit regime. Where the customer is a sole trader or a small partnership — and in truck sales that is a large proportion of owner-drivers — an agreement can be regulated depending on the amount and the purpose of the borrowing. Broadly, business-purpose lending above £25,000 to an individual sits outside the regime, while smaller amounts may not. Introducing customers for regulated finance is itself a regulated activity, which typically means the dealer needs to be appointed as an Introducer Appointed Representative of a principal firm, or hold its own FCA permission.
We will talk you through what an arrangement would involve, including any FCA appointment required, how any commission would work and how it would be disclosed to the customer, before anything goes live. If the right answer for your business is the simple signpost rather than a formal appointment, we will say so.
What you get either way: a named contact who answers the phone, an honest yes or no early rather than a fortnight of silence, and a customer who is dealt with properly. CW Asset Finance is a member of the NACFB and an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701). We are a credit broker, not a lender.
Common questions
Can I offer finance to my HGV customers without being FCA authorised?
It depends on how involved you are and who the customer is. Simply giving a customer our contact details is different from actively arranging finance as part of the sale. Agreements with limited companies are generally outside the FCA consumer credit regime, but sole traders and small partnerships can fall inside it depending on the amount and purpose of the borrowing. Where introductions relate to regulated agreements, a dealer normally needs to be appointed as an Introducer Appointed Representative of a principal firm, or hold its own permission. We will talk you through what an arrangement would involve, including any FCA appointment required, before anything starts.
What happens if my customer’s bank declines finance on a truck?
Send it to us before the customer applies anywhere else. A decline from one bank reflects that bank’s appetite, not the whole market’s — high-street lenders assess through automated scorecards tuned to a narrow profile, while many specialist asset finance funders underwrite manually and weigh the truck’s resale value and the operator’s experience. We search over 60 lenders and place the deal with one whose criteria actually fit. It is never certain, and everything remains subject to status, affordability and lender approval, but a bank decline is a long way from the end of your sale.
How long can a customer finance a tractor unit or a trailer over?
Terms follow the working life of the asset. A tractor unit is commonly written over three to five years, sometimes longer on a new unit with a strong residual, and often with a balloon payment to keep monthly cost aligned with what the vehicle earns. Trailers hold value over a much longer life and can frequently be written over a longer term than a unit. The right answer depends on the customer’s contract length, expected mileage and replacement cycle. Available terms vary by lender and by asset, and any structure remains subject to lender approval.
Does finance affect my customer’s operator licence?
It can, which is why the structure matters. Operators must satisfy the Traffic Commissioner on financial standing by evidencing a set level of available funds per vehicle, and available funds generally means accessible money such as bank balances or an agreed overdraft — not the value of the vehicles. A large cash deposit can therefore weaken the balances a customer needs to show at renewal or when adding vehicles. Vehicles also need to be specified on the licence and the operator must have lawful possession, which hire purchase and lease agreements ordinarily allow. Current financial standing figures should always be checked against published rates.
Do you fund used trucks and auction purchases?
Yes, in many cases. Older and auction-bought vehicles are exactly the deals generalist funders decline, because they would rather refuse than assess an asset they cannot easily value. Specialist commercial vehicle lenders take a different view, since the used truck market is liquid and they understand what a unit is worth. Auction purchases need care over paperwork and timing, and some funders have limits on vehicle age at the end of the term rather than at the start. Tell us the asset details early and we will confirm what is realistic before your customer commits, subject to status and lender approval.
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).