Can you get a loan if you are self employed?
Yes. Millions of people in the UK work for themselves, and lenders are used to it. Being self employed does not close the door on borrowing. It simply means a lender confirms your income in a different way, because you do not have an employer issuing payslips.
Through Dot Dot Loans you can apply to borrow £100 to £5,000 over 3 to 36 months, whether you are a sole trader, a freelancer or a company director.
How lenders assess self employed income
For an employed applicant, a lender can see a regular salary. For a self employed applicant, income can vary month to month, so lenders look for evidence of a steady, sustainable income over time. They typically consider your average earnings across recent months or years, rather than a single month.
The aim is the same as for any borrower: to be confident the repayments are genuinely affordable for you.
The paperwork that helps
Having the right records ready makes it easier for a lender to verify your income. The most useful are:
- Your SA302 tax calculation: a summary of your income reported to HMRC, available through your online tax account.
- Your tax year overview: confirms the tax due and paid, and sits alongside the SA302.
- Business bank statements: show money coming in and going out over recent months.
- Accounts: if you have them prepared, they help paint a fuller picture.
You can download your SA302 and tax year overview free from your HMRC online account. Having a couple of years of records ready is one of the simplest ways to strengthen a self employed application.
How to strengthen your application
A few steps make a self employed application more likely to succeed:
Applying when you are self employed
You can get a quote in about two minutes with a soft search, so it has no impact on your credit score. When you enter your income, use a realistic figure based on your average earnings, and have your tax records to hand in case a lender asks for them. A hard credit search is only carried out when you formally apply to a lender which can affect your credit score.
Being matched is not a guarantee of approval, because the lender always makes the final decision based on its own affordability and credit checks.
Borrowing responsibly with a variable income
When your income moves up and down, it is wise to base repayments on a quieter month rather than your best one. Borrow only what you need, choose a term whose payment you could manage in a lean period, and check the total amount repayable before you agree.
If money is tight, free and impartial help is available from MoneyHelper before you take on new borrowing.
Sources and methodology
Every figure in this guide is drawn from an official or independent authority, listed below. We do not link to other lenders or brokers. Where a statistic could change, we note when we last checked it, in July 2026.
Methodology: this guide is written in house by the Dot Dot Loans editorial team and reviewed by Paul Gillooly, Director of Dot Dot Loans, using published rules from the Financial Conduct Authority and figures from the sources above. It is general information, not financial advice. Representative Example: £1,000 borrowed for 18 months. 17 monthly repayments at £87.22, final repayment of £87.70. Total amount repayable £1,570.44. Interest total £570.44. Annual interest rate 59.97% (fixed). Representative APR 79.5% (Variable). Any representative monthly repayment shown is for illustration only, based on our representative APR. Your actual repayments will be confirmed by the matching lender if your application is approved.