Questions your business may have around coronavirus

Our Relationship Managers and Business Banking teams across the UK are here to offer help to mitigate the financial impact of coronavirus.

Support available includes:

Recovery loan scheme. A new debt finance programme that launched 6 April 2021.

Repayment holidays for up to 12 months on your Business Loan.

Overdrafts to support your cashflow when  you need it most.

Local Enterprise Managers that support their networks by sharing information and providing business advice.

Security may be required. Product fees may apply. Subject to status, business use only.

For more information about the government support available and how to access it, visit our government schemes page.

The government has launched schemes to support small businesses affected by Covid-19. These include:

Recovery loan scheme. A new debt finance programme that launched on 6 April 2021

More information about support available to businesses can be found on our government schemes page.

Other sources of information:

Gov.scot for businesses in Scotland

Gov.wales for businesses in Wales

UK Government business support page

NatWest has put a range of measures in place to help support you if you're experiencing personal financial difficulties as a result of coronavirus.

Visit our Personal hub for support and the latest guidance.

In the March 2021 Budget, the government announced it would provide additional business rates support for eligbile sectors across England.  

To find our more visit our government schemes page.

1. Rapid Cash lends between £25k and £500k against unpaid invoices to limited companies. Support with cash flow is available to B2B companies. 

To be eligible for Rapid Cash you must be:

Trading for more than six months;

Have an annual turnover of at least £100k;

Either a Limited Company or Limited Liability Partnership in the UK. 

Security may be required. Product fees may apply. Arrangement fees apply when borrowing more than £300,000.

2. Esme can provide unsecured loans to businesses from £10,000* to £250,000 over a one to five year repayment period with no set up costs or early repayment fees. 

Get your instant quote on the Esme website without affecting your credit score.

*From £25,500 for sole traders.

To be eligible for Esme, you must:

Be over 18 years old and a UK resident;

Have been actively trading for more than 3 years and a track record of making profit;

Have a turnover of more than £50,000 per annum;

Be a homeowner.

If you’re an existing Esme customer and would like to discuss how the current situation may be impacting your business, you can email the team.

The government has put in place grant schemes to support specific businesses. To find out more, visit our government schemes page.

We have a range of solutions that could help manage your trading risks and provide tailored funding to help your supply chain remain healthy.

Visit our Cash flow and Supply Chain Management pages to learn more and find tools to help guide your business. 

If you have a Relationship Manager, get in touch. They are on hand to help and can advise on the support measures available.

If you believe that you are experiencing, or will experience, financial difficulties, there are independent organisations that can provide free advice and support on your financial needs, such as Citizens Advice, National Debtline, Business Debtline and PayPlan.

Details of how you can contact these organisations and other sources of free advice can be found on the MoneyHelper website:

www.moneyhelper.org.uk

To get business advice, contact the government helpline. Call may be charged.

Business Support Helpline
Email: enquiries@businesssupporthelpline.org
Telephone: 0800 998 1098
Relay UK: 18001 0800 998 109
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm

Business Support (Scotland)
Telephone: 0300 303 0660
Textphone: 0800 023 2071
Relay UK: 18001 0300 303 0660
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm

Business Wales Helpline
Telephone: 0300 060 3000
Relay UK: 18001 0300 060 3000
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm

Invest Northern Ireland
Telephone: 0800 181 4422
Relay UK: 18001 0800 181 4422
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm

Tyl by NatWest provides payment services - over the phone, online, via link or in person – helping to adapt your business model. Keep customers and staff safe with more ways to pay with minimal contact.

In this difficult time, we have waived terminal rental fees until the end of 2020. After 2020 waived fees charges will return to normal.

3G connectivity charges will also be waived until the end of June or longer. So, with our standard no minimum monthly transaction fees, you only pay for what you use.

More about Tyl

Talk to HMRC about managing payments. You can set up a Time to Pay agreement to delay debt collection.

Call the HMRC coronavirus Helpline: 0800 015 955

Read more on the government website.

Chargeback gives customers the chance of getting their money back if they bought faulty goods, a service wasn't provided, or the company they bought something from went bust and the goods weren't delivered. 

We ask for money back from the supplier's bank, not the supplier itself, and the money should come back even if the retailer has gone bust – though this isn't guaranteed. 

How much can be claimed?

The total sum the customer paid will be covered by the chargeback scheme, although the minimum amount for Mastercard is £10. There is no minimum for Visa.

What are the exceptions?

You will only get the value of the transaction back that was paid by a card.

You aren't covered for problems that emerge with goods at a later date i.e. a piece of machinery stops working after 2 years.

How to initiate a claim

For credit and charge cards
Call: 0370 909 3701
Relay UK: 18001 0370 909 3701

For debit cards:
Call: 0345 711 4477
Relay UK: 18001 0345 711 4477

We have tools and services to help entrepreneurs meet the challenges of high growth.

Visit our High Growth page for more details.

In the March 2021 Budget, the government announced updates to support for businesses who have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Some of these measure include:

Extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until the end of September 2021

The continuation of the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) until September 2021, with extended eligibility to include 19/20 Self-Assessment filers.

The continuation of a range of Covid-19 temporary easements including for home office expenses and Covid-19 antigen tests for the 2021-22 tax year.

Investment of around £200m in additional resources and new technology for HMRC in 2021-22.

For further information, visit the government website.

NatWest Mentor is your expert in employment law & HR, health and safety and environmental management. We may be able to provide you with consultancy and advice to help your business. NatWest Mentor services incur a fee.

Visit NatWest Mentor

Through our NatWest Mentor service, we’re offering free access to MentorDigital, an online compliance management system where you will find a range of tools, templates and guidance to help you identify key priorities and take specific actions to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on your people and your business.

Register for MentorDigital

Small and medium-sized employers in the UK will continue to be able to reclaim up to two weeks of eligible Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) costs per employee from the Government.

To find out more, visit our government schemes page.

Advice about what to do if an employee is unwell with coronavirus is on the government website.

All UK businesses will be able to access support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during the crisis. This scheme has been extended by the government until the end of September 2021.

To find out more, visit our government schemes page.

NatWest Mentor service is your expert in employment law & HR, health & safety and environmental management. We may be able to provide you with consultancy and advice to help your business. 

Visit NatWest Mentor. Mentor services incur a fee.

Through our NatWest Mentor service, we’re offering free access to MentorDigital, an online compliance management system where you will find a range of tools, templates and guidance to help you identify key priorities and take specific actions to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on your people and your business.

Visit gov.uk for the latest advice about coronavirus.

While our own data usage and privacy policies have not changed, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the British Business Bank (BBB) are required to ensure that they can use the data in relation to facilities that we’ve offered under the Covid-19 loan schemes:

Coronavirus Business Loan Scheme (CBILS)

Coronavirus Large Business Loan Scheme (CLBILS)

Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS)

This is to support their reporting requirements in relation to state aid. We’ll contact all customers who have applied and been offered lending, regardless of whether they’ve drawn down on the loan.

These notices have been updated to clarify the ways customer data for the Covid-19 loan schemes is used. Data will be used for data analytics and to meet reporting obligations to the European Commission and the UK government. 

Customer data is information which you provided to us for the purpose of obtaining your loan, as well as information about the loan. This information may include details of individual loans (including the identity of the borrower).

Where required, certain information about loans granted under the Covid-19 loan schemes including customer data must be shared with the UK government and the European Commission. They may publish details on their respective transparency websites.  

You don’t need to do anything; this is just to keep you updated on these changes. 

You’ll find more details on these changes in the communication that you’ll receive from us. You can find further information about the BEIS / BBB data and privacy notice here:

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy - data reporting questions and answers

British Business Bank - data reporting

If you have any questions in relation to the BEIS / BBB data and privacy notice which are not answered by these Q&As, contact the BEIS at enquiries@beis.gov.uk.