Business loan declined by Aldermore, what next?
Aldermore has declined your asset finance, invoice finance or commercial mortgage application. Aldermore is an established UK challenger bank that sits between mainstream high-street lending and specialist fintech. Their underwriting leans on real asset cover and clean compliance, so a decline usually points to a documentation or asset-cover problem rather than a hard credit issue.
Why this triggers a decline
Aldermore's common decline drivers in order of frequency: sub-2-year Ltd company trading, asset-cover under their threshold (typically below 70 to 80% LTV on commercial property, below 75% on plant and equipment), incomplete or late-filed Companies House accounts, director credit issues beyond their conservative threshold, complex group structures with offshore tax residency, sector exclusions (gambling, adult, regulated financial services), and minor HMRC arrears that have not been formally addressed via a Time To Pay arrangement.
Alternatives that work
- OakNorth or Allica Bank for an alternative challenger-bank route on the same asset-backed profile
- Specialist asset finance lenders for equipment-backed deals where Aldermore was structurally a poor fit
- Specialist commercial mortgage lenders for property-backed deals with tighter LTV thresholds
- Invoice finance specialists if the application was against a debtor book
Lenders we route to
- OakNorth (challenger bank, similar asset-backed appetite)
- Allica Bank (challenger bank, sub-£500k tickets in scope)
- Specialist asset finance lenders (Time Finance, Close Brothers AF) for equipment deals
- Specialist commercial mortgage lenders for property deals
- Funding Circle or iwoca for sub-£150k unsecured tickets where Aldermore was too large a lender for the ask
What to do first
- Ask the Aldermore relationship manager for the specific decline reason in writing.
- If the issue is asset cover, get an updated independent valuation; LTV thresholds are firm but valuations can shift the maths.
- If the issue is Companies House status, file overdue accounts and let the public record update before reapplying.
- If the issue is HMRC arrears, agree a formal Time To Pay with HMRC and let it bed in for 30 to 60 days.
- If the ticket is sub-£150k, route to fintech or specialist asset-finance lenders where the smaller size fits the model better.
Not for
Sub-12-month trading, sole-trader applicants (FundBiz is Ltd-only), active winding-up petitions, or unsatisfied CCJs over £20,000. Those cases route to fintech or specialist post-decline lenders, not to another challenger bank.
Run the matcher
Tell us your sector, ticket size and trading time. We score each panel lender and surface the ones most likely to approve given the decline reason above.
Open matcher →Last reviewed: 2026-05-11.