We may be able to help you find a self-employed loan from our wide panel of lenders. Find homeowner and personal loans with Ocean.
Homeowner loans are secured against your property. This means your home may be at risk if you fall behind with your payments. We are a broker and we arrange secured loans from a panel of lenders. We receive commission upon completion. Fees may be payable depending on your choice of financial product. The rate you're offered and the fees will depend on your circumstances and will be discussed prior to you proceeding with your loan. 11.0% APRC Representative.
Personal loans are unsecured. Ocean Finance is a trading style of Intelligent Lending Limited. We are a credit broker working with a panel of lenders to find you a personal loan. We receive commission upon completion. A Broker Fee is not payable. 59.9% APR Representative (fixed).
Can I get a loan if I’m self-employed?
Yes. It might not be quite as easy, though. As lending regulations have tightened, self-employed people have found it more difficult to get accepted for a loan. That's because lenders have to look more closely at affordability before saying yes to a loan application. Simply put, if you’re self-employed, it can be harder to prove you’ll be able to make your repayments. But don’t worry, we can still search our panel of lenders to find the best deal you're eligible for.
Self-employed loan requirements
Any responsible lender will check that repayments are affordable before accepting a loan application. This is why you'll need to provide proof of income. For self-employed people, this could mean up to three years' worth of bank statements.
As your self-employed income may be variable in terms of amount and frequency, some lenders will see you as a higher risk.
At Ocean, we judge each application on its own merits. You can get a quick quote right away to see whether or not you'd be accepted - and checking won't affect your credit score.
All we need to know to get started is:
- How much you want to borrow and for how long
- A few personal details like your name, address and job.
Then, we’ll pop the info you give us into our eligibility checker and give you an answer straight away.
See what our customers say
How could we help you?
Ocean has provided access to loans, credit cards and mortgages to people across the UK since 1991. In this time, we’ve pre-approved more than a million people, offering products and advice to suit their circumstances.
- All credit histories considered
- Check your eligibility without affecting your credit score
- Save time finding the right loan deal
You can learn more about Ocean on our about us page.
Got Questions?
We can search for personal loans (also known as unsecured loans) between £1,000 and £15,000, for up to five years.
Personal loans aren't tied to any assets, and for that reason, the amount on offer is smaller compared to secured loans. Without any collateral, unsecured loans can sometimes be tricky to access if you’re self-employed.
As with any type of loan, having a patchy credit history can make it harder (but by no means impossible) to be accepted for the loan you’re after. At Ocean, we help people with a range of credit histories - both good and bad. We will always do our best, working with our trusted lenders, to find you a loan to meet your individual circumstances.
One thing worth remembering is if you do have a history of bad credit, you’re likely to be charged a higher interest rate on your loan to compensate for the higher risk the lender's deemed to be taking when offering you the cash. There are other things you can do to boost your credit score and odds of being accepted though, like:
- Sticking to all your credit commitments on time and in full
- Making sure you’re on the electoral roll
- Checking your report for any errors (and disputing them if there are)
- Reducing any outstanding debt
- Keeping your credit utilisation ratio to around 25%
- Closing any old lines of credit you no longer use
You’ll almost always need to provide lenders with some form of proof, whether that be in the form of bank/business statements or evidence of your income for the last four years (SA302 tax collection). Lenders in the UK are closely regulated and must be able to assess your affordability before lending to you.
It can be difficult to show where your income's coming from when you're self-employed, especially if you accept multiple payment methods.
You can demonstrate that you have a steady income by supplying your bank/business statements or completed tax returns (SA302).
Yes, if you’re struggling to keep on top of your monthly repayments, a self-employed loan can be used to pay off your existing credit cards, overdrafts or other debts. This will leave you with just one monthly payment and one lender to deal with, but note that you may increase the term and overall amount of interest paid as a result.
Homeowner loans are secured against your property. This means your home may be at risk if you fall behind with your secured loan or mortgage repayments.
Remember, if you consolidate your existing borrowing, you may be extending the term and increasing the amount you repay in total.