Yes. Sole traders and partnerships can be considered for asset finance in the same way as limited companies, and many lenders on our panel fund them regularly. The assessment differs slightly because there is no separate legal entity, so the lender looks at you personally as well as at the business. Decisions rest with the lender.
For a sole trader, personal credit history carries more weight, since your finances and the business’s are legally the same thing. Lenders will usually want to see evidence of trading — bank statements, accounts or tax returns — and will want to understand how the asset earns its keep.
One important point: some sole trader agreements can fall under consumer credit regulation rather than being purely business-to-business, depending on the size of the agreement and how the asset is used. That changes the protections that apply and the paperwork involved. We will tell you which basis a proposal sits on before you commit.