An instant answer still has a date on it.

Speed of delivery and age of evidence are different things, and every AI credit answer has three dates behind it.

Bought, not broken: a motor-finance bill is redrawing who owns SME credit

A motor-finance bill put an SME bank on the block while merchant volumes fell 5.8%.

Only some suppliers got the letter.

A trade credit insurer reduced cover on a major housebuilder. Only the suppliers holding cover on that name were told.

The insurer moved first: a cover cut travelled faster than any credit check

The week's sharpest risk signal about a trade counterparty came from a letter from an insurer, not a change in a credit file.

The business carried on. The debt didn’t.

The name, the staff and the sites can carry on trading while your invoice sits against a company that no longer trades.

The limit you set in 2024 is still shipping in 2026

A credit limit is a decision with a date on it. The customer underneath it keeps changing. Why limits set in 2024 are still shipping in 2026, which changes should trigger a review, and how to reprice exposure by event rather than calendar.

The credit glossary: the formal terms and the slang

Credit has two vocabularies: the one in the contract and the one on the phone. This glossary covers both — the formal terms you'll meet in credit reports, loan documents and insolvency notices, and the language credit teams actually speak. Slang entries are marked (slang). UK usage throughout; where

A new company can have an old risk history

A new company may have little financial history, but its directors can carry years of it — previous insolvencies, dissolved companies, connections to other active firms. Assessing a new company means examining the entity and the people behind it, and watching both after the account opens.

Nine hundred letters: the FCA turns to the lenders it doesn’t regulate

The FCA stepped up scrutiny of unregulated lenders the week FLA data showed non-banks writing 41% of members’ new finance.

Companies House can verify a director. It cannot vouch for the company.

Companies House identity verification confirms who runs a company — it does not assess how the company pays, what it depends on, or how much credit it can support. What verification proves, what it can’t, and how to read filing signals during the transition.

The first creditor to lose patience isn’t in your ledger

A customer can pay suppliers on time while falling behind with HMRC. Tax arrears never appear in your ledger, and winding-up petitions arrive late in the deterioration. Where hidden tax pressure builds, what enforcement signals mean, and what to monitor before it becomes public.

How to build a good business credit score in the UK

A business credit score improves when the records behind it improve: file on time, pay within terms, keep disputes out of court and check your file. What actually moves a UK business score, how to build one from day one, and how to see what creditors see.