A finance partner for van and commercial vehicle dealers
We arrange business vehicle finance for van and light commercial dealers to offer their trade customers — including deals a bank has already declined. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
- Built around business customers, not consumer motor finance
- Chassis, conversion and body considered together
- Straight read on a deal early, so the customer does not drift
- Credit broker, not a lender — 60+ funders searched
Van dealing is a volume business, and that shapes everything about the finance attached to it. Ticket sizes are lower than plant or HGV, margins per unit are tighter, and the customer standing on your forecourt is frequently comparing you with two other dealers within a forty-mile radius. If the funding answer takes a week, the customer has usually bought elsewhere by the time it arrives. Speed of decision is not a nicety in this sector; it is the difference between a sale and a lost enquiry.
CW Asset Finance is an independent, whole-of-market credit broker in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. We are a credit broker, not a lender, and we are an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited (FCA FRN 630701). We arrange hire purchase, lease and refinance facilities for businesses acquiring vans and light commercial vehicles, from a sole-trader tradesman replacing a single panel van through to a limited company adding several vehicles to a working fleet.
These pages are about business customers. Vehicle finance for individuals is a different regulatory world with different rules, and we do not blur the two. Our focus is on funding vehicles that businesses use to trade — and on giving the dealer a quick, honest read on whether a given deal is likely to be placeable, so the sales conversation can carry on with realistic information rather than hope.
Speed matters because customers walk
The economics of LCV retail mean a finance partner has to work at forecourt pace. A customer who has decided they need a van next week is not going to wait a fortnight for an underwriter to come back, and every day the answer is outstanding is a day they can be sold something else by somebody else.
What actually speeds a decision up is unglamorous: getting the right information at the first attempt. Most delay in this market is not underwriting time, it is chasing missing detail. The information that tends to make the difference at enquiry stage is:
- Who the customer trades as — limited company, partnership or sole trader — and how long they have been trading.
- The vehicle — make, model, year, mileage, and whether it is new, used or ex-fleet.
- Anything being added — racking, a conversion, a body, a tail lift, livery.
- Deposit and part exchange — what the customer is putting in, and what is coming back the other way.
- Anything known about their credit position — particularly any prior decline, because that determines which funders are worth approaching.
With that in hand we can usually give a dealer an early view on whether the deal sits inside mainstream lender appetite or whether it needs a specialist funder. That early view is the useful thing. It lets you keep the customer engaged with an honest position rather than a promise nobody can keep — and no finance is ever certain, as every facility remains subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Conversions, bodies and vehicles that are not just a van
A large share of LCV sales are not a standard panel van off the shelf. They are a chassis cab with something bolted to it, or a base vehicle sent away and returned as a working tool. That creates two practical funding issues that catch dealers out.
The first is what the facility actually covers. A tipper, dropside, Luton, box body, curtainsider, refrigerated conversion, welfare unit or beavertail is worth substantially more than the chassis it started as, and the conversion is often a meaningful proportion of the total price. Lenders vary in how they treat the build: some fund the completed vehicle as a single asset, some want the conversion itemised, and some are more comfortable with a recognised converter than a one-off build. Racking, tail lifts, tow bars, ply lining and livery are usually includable but treatment differs by funder.
The second is timing. Where a base vehicle is bought and then goes away for conversion, payment often needs to happen in stages across weeks or months. Not every lender accommodates that, and the ones that do have their own requirements about when and how funds are released. It is far easier to identify a suitable funder at the start than to unpick a facility halfway through a build.
- Standard panel vans — the most straightforward to place, with a deep and predictable used market.
- Tippers, dropsides and Lutons — well understood by most funders, with the body typically funded alongside the chassis.
- Specialist and low-volume conversions — fundable, but appetite narrows and the resale evidence matters more.
- Ex-fleet and ex-lease stock — normal in this market, though age and mileage limits at the end of the agreement determine the term available.
Sole traders, partnerships and limited companies
Who the customer is changes both the underwrite and the regulatory position, and it is worth dealers understanding the distinction rather than treating every business buyer the same.
A limited company is assessed on its own filed accounts and credit profile, usually with a director’s personal profile considered alongside and often with a personal guarantee sought. A sole trader or partnership has no separate legal identity, so the underwrite leans much more heavily on the individual’s personal credit position and on evidence of trading — bank statements, invoices, contracts, tax returns. That is not a barrier; a large share of the van market is unincorporated, and lenders are used to it. It simply changes what is needed to place the deal.
It also changes the regulatory treatment. Most business asset finance to limited companies sits outside consumer credit regulation, but vehicle finance to individuals and sole traders can fall within regulated consumer credit depending on the circumstances of the agreement. The two are not interchangeable, and the protections, disclosures and processes attached to them differ. We keep our work on this side of the business focused on customers acquiring vehicles for business use, and we assess the correct treatment for each case rather than assuming.
For a dealer the practical takeaway is simple: tell us who the customer is and what the vehicle is for at the outset. It affects which lenders will look at it, what documentation the customer will be asked for, and how the case has to be handled.
When your customer’s bank declines them
Van customers get declined by their banks constantly, and in this sector the decline usually arrives at the worst possible point — after the vehicle has been agreed and the customer has mentally taken delivery. The dealer then has a used-vehicle sale sitting in limbo and a customer who has decided the answer is no.
It is worth understanding why those declines happen. High-street banks assess through automated scorecards built around a narrow profile: several years of filed accounts, steady monthly turnover, a clean credit file. A two-year-old building firm, a sole trader whose income arrives in irregular lumps, a business with a settled default from three years ago, or a customer buying an older high-mileage vehicle can each fail that filter while being entirely capable of affording the van. The scorecard is not making a judgment about the business; it is applying a policy.
Specialist lenders in this market underwrite manually, weigh the vehicle’s resale position, and consider the customer’s actual trading. That is why a deal declined in one place can sometimes be placed in another. It is not a certainty and we will not present it as one — everything is subject to status, affordability and lender approval — but for a dealer it means a declined customer is worth a single phone call before the order is cancelled.
One thing worth telling any declined customer straight away: stop applying. Every full application typically leaves a hard search on the credit file, and several searches in a short window are read as a risk signal by the next lender. A customer who has applied to four places in a fortnight is materially harder to place than the same customer was before they started. Better to have one broker test the market properly.
What working together would involve
We would rather build an arrangement around how your business already sells than hand you a template. The shape it takes depends largely on how closely you want finance tied into the sales conversation.
- A referral relationship. You introduce customers who need funding, or who have been declined elsewhere, and we deal with them directly from that point. You are kept informed so you know where the order stands.
- A closer point-of-sale arrangement. Finance presented as part of the sale rather than after it. More useful commercially, and more involved from a regulatory point of view.
On that second point we would rather be careful than casual. Depending on how introductions are made, what is said to customers, and whether the finance in question is regulated, a dealer introducing customers for credit may need to be appointed as an Introducer Appointed Representative under an FCA-authorised principal. That appointment brings obligations on both sides, covering what can be said to customers, how introductions are recorded, and how the relationship is supervised. It is a real commitment, not a formality.
We will talk you through what an arrangement would involve, including any FCA appointment required, and be clear about how we are paid and about the commission disclosure obligations that attach to that, before anything is put in place. If a formal appointment is not right for your business, a straightforward referral arrangement may suit better. The starting point is a conversation, not paperwork.
Common questions
My customer was declined by their bank for a van — is anything else possible?
Frequently, yes. Banks assess business vehicle finance largely by automated scorecard, so a short trading history, irregular income, a historic default or an older high-mileage vehicle can each trigger a decline regardless of affordability. Specialist lenders underwrite manually, weigh the vehicle’s resale position and look at how the business is actually trading. We search 60+ funders and will tell you early whether the deal looks placeable. Nothing is certain — all finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval — but tell the customer to stop applying elsewhere first, because repeated searches make it harder.
Can you fund the conversion or body as well as the base vehicle?
Usually, subject to lender appetite. Tippers, dropsides, Lutons, box bodies, curtainsiders and refrigerated conversions are a normal part of this market, and most funders will look at the completed vehicle. Treatment varies: some fund it as one asset, some want the conversion itemised separately, and some prefer a recognised converter over a one-off build. Racking, tail lifts, tow bars and ply lining can often be included. Where the base vehicle goes away for conversion and payment is staged, it is worth identifying a suitable lender at the outset rather than mid-build.
How quickly can a decision come back on a van deal?
It varies with the customer and the vehicle. A limited company with filed accounts, a clean credit profile and a mainstream vehicle can move fast. A case needing manual underwriting — adverse credit, thin trading history, an unusual conversion, an older vehicle — takes longer because someone is genuinely reading it. The biggest cause of delay is missing information at enquiry, so giving us the customer type, trading history, vehicle details, deposit and any known credit issues up front makes a real difference. We will tell you early which category the deal falls into.
Do you handle sole traders as well as limited companies?
Yes. A large share of the LCV market is unincorporated and lenders are well used to it. The difference is what the underwrite leans on: a limited company is assessed on its filed accounts and credit profile, while a sole trader or partnership is assessed much more on the individual’s personal credit position and on evidence of trading such as bank statements, invoices and tax returns. It also affects the regulatory treatment of the agreement, since vehicle finance to individuals and sole traders can fall within regulated consumer credit depending on the circumstances.
What is involved in setting up an introducer arrangement as a van dealer?
It depends how closely finance is tied into your sales process. A simple referral relationship, where you introduce customers and we deal with them directly, is straightforward. A closer point-of-sale arrangement carries regulatory requirements: depending on how introductions are made and whether the finance is regulated, a dealer may need to be appointed as an Introducer Appointed Representative under an FCA-authorised principal, with obligations around what is said to customers and how introductions are recorded. We will talk you through what an arrangement would involve, including any FCA appointment required, and how we are paid.
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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).