Self-Employed Car Finance
We offer an online-first, broker-led model that can provide flexible, transparent self-employed car finance.
Rates from 9.9% APR.
Representative APR 10.9%
Running your own business has so many advantages – but when it comes to securing self-employed car finance, it may feel a bit overwhelming.
Thankfully, there are ways to secure car finance for self-employed individuals, even without regular payslips.
My Car Credit works with a variety of lenders who understand the challenges for self-employed, freelance and gig economy applicants. We offer an online-first, broker-led model that can provide flexible, transparent self-employed car finance, as well as finance agreements for individuals with bad credit or a limited credit history.
Can you get car finance if you’re self-employed?
Self-employed car finance is accessible – you’ll just face a few more checks and have to provide more documentation compared to non-self-employed workers.
With car finance for self-employed individuals, lenders will typically care about your affordability and stability, not just your payslips.
As such, if you’re searching for the best car finance for self-employed people, it’s sensible to have documents including tax returns, bank statements, proof of ID and address and an SA302 tax form from HMRC. Having these documents to hand will speed up the process of your search for car finance for self-employed individuals.
How to prove your income if you’re self-employed
As detailed above, car finance lenders will request documentation from self-employed applicants. The typical documents that you should expect to provide are:
- SA302 forms – An SA302 form is a summary of your income that shows your income, tax allowance and the tax you’ve paid or owe for each tax year. It’s a document that you can request from HMRC.
- Self-assessment tax returns – If you’re self-employed, you have to fill out a self-assessment tax return each tax year, which tells HMRC how much you owe in tax. Some car finance lenders may request these as part of your application.
- Bank statements – Bank statements can be another way of proving your income. Typically, lenders may ask for three to six months of bank statements for self-employed car finance.
- Business accounts (if applicable) – If you own a business, a lender may ask for documentation on your accounts during your application.
- Proof of ongoing contracts or invoices (for freelancers) – If you work freelance, self-employed car finance lenders will ask for proof of ongoing income.
My Car Credit will guide self-employed applicants on what documentation you’ll need for your car finance search. We’ll match you to lenders willing to work with self-employed income proof, helping you secure the most suitable agreement for your circumstances.
Common challenges with self-employed car finance
Applicants looking for the best car finance for self-employed people often face more challenges securing an agreement than salaried applicants. These obstacles will vary depending on each individual’s circumstances, but the most common include:
- Irregular income – Whether you’re a salaried or self-employed applicant, car finance lenders want proof of income. Evidence of consistency with your income will support your application. The longer and more consistent your income, the better.
- Limited or no payslips – If you lack regular payslips (or don’t have any), you may face obstacles applying for self-employed car finance, and lenders may ask for alternative proof of income.
- Higher perceived risk – If you’re a riskier applicant, lenders may offer you slightly higher rates. Alternatively, you may need to pay a deposit, or secure a guarantor.
- Bad credit – Applying for self-employed car finance with bad credit can complicate the process, but it’s not a total deal breaker. In fact, at My Car Credit, we’ve secured car finance for self-employed applicants with poor or limited credit histories.
Advice for self-employed car finance applicants
These are the easy steps you can take to improve your likelihood of acceptance for self-employed car finance:
- Prepare documentation early – We’ve listed the kinds of documents that you may need to present for an application for car finance for self-employed individuals above. If you have your SA302, tax return and bank statements readily available, this can speed up the application process.
- Save a deposit – Having a deposit for your car finance reduces lender risk and shows the seriousness of your application. As such, saving for a deposit will improve your approval chances.
- Keep credit score healthy – Having a healthy credit score by paying your bills on time, reducing your debt and minimising your overdraft reliance will improve your chances of acceptance for self-employed car finance.
- Show stability – Lenders will look at your affordability and stability if you can’t provide regular payslips. Showing consistent income, long-term contracts and repeat clients can all help to support your application.
- Work with a broker – My Car Credit can help you find lenders with a flexible approach to self-employed applicants searching for car finance.
Your car finance options if you’re self-employed
Hire purchase (HP)
Hire purchase car finance is one of the most popular agreements available for both salaried and self-employed applicants.
With fixed monthly payments and vehicle ownership at the end of term, HP is an affordable and flexible agreement option for many motorists. Plus, for self-employed car finance, it’s often easier to get approval on an HP agreement.
Personal contract purchase (PCP)
Personal contract purchase (PCP) is another popular option for self-employed applicants.
Lower monthly payments and flexible ownership options at the end explain PCP’s continued popularity. That said, you may need to provide stronger affordability evidence and choose a newer car make and model if applying for PCP car finance for self-employed.
Used car finance for self-employed drivers
If you’re a gig economy worker or a self-employed individual searching for a good family vehicle, used car finance may be the way to go.
Used car finance can be an affordable, practical option for self-employed applicants. Plus, by applying with My Car Credit, we’ll help you secure finance before you go car shopping, so you know exactly the budget you’re working with from the get-go.
Self-employed car finance with bad credit
If you’re looking for the best car finance for self-employed people with poor credit or limited credit history, don’t despair.
My Car Credit is part of the UK’s largest motor finance broker, which gives us access to the largest panel of car finance lenders out of any broker nationwide. Many of these lenders specialise in bad credit cases, so even if your employment history is unusual or inconsistent, they’ll aim to find you the most suitable agreement available (subject to status).
Any initial credit check is only ever a soft search, meaning it won’t impact your credit score at application stage.
You can increase your chances of acceptance for self-employed car finance with bad credit by improving your credit score. Don’t forget that making finance agreement repayments on time will rebuild your credit score, too.
A quick and hassle-free process
Get approved
Use our car finance online application form for a quick answer on car finance. Our decision using soft search won’t impact your credit score!
Find a car
Find your car first or apply for car finance and then find a car – so long as it’s from any reputable car dealer.
Sign & Collect
Approve your paperwork online, from the comfort of your home. We’ll transfer funds next working day, and you’re ready to collect your car!
How to apply for car finance when you’re self-employed
Apply Online
After using our free car finance calculator to discover the kind of rates you may benefit from, fill out our simple online form to kickstart the process.
Choose Your Car
Now that your budget has been established, you can shop confidently knowing the kind of car you can afford. We’ve also got a one-stop shop of quality, pre-approved used and nearly-new vehicles for you to shop, too.
Drive Away
We’ll handle any last minute paperwork and liaison with the lender. Once your finance is approved, you get to collect your car keys and drive away.
Why choose My Car Credit for self-employed car finance?
Broker advantage – more choice
Applying for self-employed car finance with My Car Credit will give you access to multiple specialised lenders – not just one dealership or bank.
Many of those on our panel take a flexible approach to self-employed, freelance and gig economy applicants, and can help you find the most suitable agreement for your circumstances.
Soft search eligibility check
Our initial credit check is only ever a soft search. This tells us more about your personal financial history without leaving a mark on your credit report, helping us determine your car finance eligibility. Further down the line, lenders may conduct a hard check to process your application.
Fast online process
Our application process is all online, so you can apply for self-employed car finance anytime, anywhere. You’ll benefit from no obligation quotes in mere minutes, and with us, the rate you see is the rate you get.
Supportive UK-based team
As well as securing speedy decisions via an online application process, you’ll also benefit from the support of our friendly, knowledgeable team. Our Car Credit Specialists are real people who’ll guide you through the application process without judgement.
Start your self-employed car finance journey today
Take your first step towards securing self-employed car finance today with My Car Credit.
Check your eligibility in minutes with our car finance calculator. You’ll receive a fast, flexible and no obligation quote without impacting your overall credit score – apply today to find out more.
Approachable bad car credit specialists
When you apply for car finance with My Car Credit, you will be assigned your own Car Credit Specialist. All our specialists are experienced in handling bad credit car finance and will help to guide you through the entire process to make your experience stress-free. They are also on-hand to give you advice and guidance for improving your bad credit profile.
You can also get a FREE credit report from Experian.
At My Car Credit, our team have a reputation for their openness and professionalism – we have helped lots of bad credit customers to secure car finance for their dream car. Don’t take our word for it: read some of our customer feedback below!
Self-employed car finance FAQs
It’s more than possible to secure self-employed car finance even if you don’t have payslips to provide proof of income. Most lenders will ask for additional documentation, including proof of ID, bank statements and employment history.
Different lenders will ask for alternative documents to support a self-employed car finance application. Typically, these include 3-6 months of bank statements, proof of ID, self assessment returns and SA302 forms from HMRC.
You can get approved for car finance with irregular income, but may face more stringent eligibility checks. You can improve your likelihood of acceptance by maintaining the health of your credit score and having all necessary documentation to hand.
Car finance for self-employed people with bad credit is available. Working with a broker like My Car Credit will improve your chances of acceptance – our access to a broad panel of lenders means we can help match you to an agreement that’s most suitable for your circumstances.
You don’t need a guarantor for self-employed car finance, though it may help to improve your chances of acceptance. Maintaining a healthy credit score and saving for a deposit can also support your application if you don’t have a regular salary.
By applying for self-employed car finance with a broker like My Car Credit, you can access speedy online decisions. Although we can’t guarantee car finance, these no-obligation decisions indicate your auto finance eligibility, helping you make an informed choice.
Require more help?
Got a question you can’t find the answer to, or need some advice and guidance around taking out car finance? Our Car Credit Specialists are friendly, experienced, and here to help so get in touch today!