What happens after I send a business loan enquiry?

What happens in the first few minutes?

When you submit the enquiry form, it comes to our team — not to an auction of lenders and not to a chatbot that decides your fate. A lending specialist reads the details: how much you need, what it’s for, the state you’re in, how the business trades, whether there’s property and anything you’ve told us about credit or tax.

That first read is where accurate form answers pay off. If the amount, purpose and property details are right, the specialist can already see the likely route before picking up the phone.

What happens on the first call?

The call is a conversation, not an interrogation. Expect questions like:

• What exactly is the money for? And is there a quote, invoice or ATO statement behind the number?
• How does the business trade? Rough monthly turnover, seasonality, main customers.
• What’s already owed? Other loans, leases, credit cards, supplier arrangements, the ATO.
• Is there property? Who owns it, roughly what it’s worth, what’s owed on it.
• Any credit history we should know about? Defaults, judgments, past insolvency.
• When do you need the funds, and why then?

Then you get a straight answer: what looks realistic, which route suits, and what would need to happen next. If it isn’t a fit, you’ll hear that too. For a sense of how the pieces are weighed, see what lenders look at.

Does anything touch my credit file at this stage?

No. There’s no credit check when you first enquire, and none on the first call. A credit check usually happens only when you decide to proceed with a formal application to a lender, and you’ll be asked for consent at that point. Our page on whether enquiring affects your credit score explains why that separation matters.

What happens if I decide to go ahead?

The steps from here depend on the route:

Unsecured or cash-flow loan

1. You provide ID and business bank statements (often through a secure retrieval link).
2. The lender assesses and may ask a question or two.
3. An offer is issued; you review and sign, usually electronically.
4. Funds are paid.

Property-secured loan

1. You provide ID, business details, and property documents such as a rates notice and mortgage statement.
2. The lender assesses the application and orders a valuation.
3. An offer is issued; loan documents, mortgage or caveat and guarantees are prepared.
4. Everyone signs; co-owners may get independent legal advice.
5. Settlement registers the security and pays the funds. See what happens at settlement.

Our documents checklist sets out exactly what each route usually needs.

How long between enquiry and funds?

It depends mainly on the route and on how quickly the documents and signatures come together. Unsecured loans generally involve fewer steps; property-secured loans add valuation and legal work. The stage-by-stage breakdown is in how long a business loan takes. If you have a deadline, mention it on the form so the plan is built around it.

What if my situation is complicated?

Plenty of enquiries don’t fit neatly into a form, and that’s fine. Complicated situations are exactly why a person reads each one. Common examples:

• Several entities — a trading company, a trust that owns property, a family partnership.
• Mixed issues — an ATO debt, an old default and a recent quiet patch all at once.
• Unusual security — rural land, a specialised building, property owned with relatives.
• Timing pressure — a settlement date, a tax deadline or a supplier who needs paying.

If any of these apply, add a line or two in the form’s notes or mention it early on the call. You don’t need to have the answers worked out; you just need to flag that the situation has more than one moving part. A specialist can then plan the order of steps — which entity borrows, which property secures the loan, what needs catching up first — before anything is lodged with a lender. It’s far quicker to sort structure at the start than to unpick it halfway through an application.

What won’t happen after I enquire?

A few things we deliberately don’t do:

• We don’t sell or blast your details to a list of lenders or brokers.
• We don’t run a credit check before you’ve decided to proceed.
• We don’t pressure you to accept an option that doesn’t fit.
• We don’t charge you to enquire.

That’s the whole point of a real person working on your file: you get a considered answer, not a flood of competing calls.

How can I get the most out of the first call?

• Have the number and the purpose ready, with any quote or statement.
• Know your rough monthly turnover and existing repayments.
• Be upfront about problems. Credit issues or tax debt mentioned early are far easier to work with.
• Have your property details handy if property might be involved.
• Tell us your real deadline.

If you’ve jotted down questions of your own, even better. The guide questions to ask a business lender is a good list to start from. When you’re ready, send the enquiry — it takes about a minute.

Ready when you are

The first step is small and costs your credit file nothing. There’s no credit check when you first enquire, your details aren’t passed to a pile of lenders, and a real person reads your situation and calls you. Please fill in the form accurately — amount, purpose, turnover, property and any credit or tax issues — so the answer you hear on the first call is the right one.

Send your 60-second enquiry →