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Over a third of Covid support loans issued by Starling at risk of default

Over a third of bounce back loans approved by Starling Bank during the pandemic are at risk of default, the lender has told the Public Accounts Committee.

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Over a third of Covid support loans issued by Starling at risk of default

Editorial

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Starling Bank funded more than £358m of loans under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) and over £1bn in BBLs.

Of the £47 billion provided in loans through the Bounce Back Loan (BBL) scheme, £1.1 billion of these loans are suspected to be fraudulent. Across the entire scheme, the BBB found that around 3.2 per cent of outstanding loans were in default and 7.6 per cent were in arrears.

So far lenders have clawed back £400 million from the taxpayer to cover loan defaults under the scheme. Starling has so far claimed £153 million from the state guarantee, of which £106m has been paid out.

Starling Bank CEO Anne Boden in June threatened legal action against former anti-fraud minister Lord Agnew over his allegations that the bank used the Government's Covid loan scheme as a "God-sent opportunity" to swell its balance sheets without conducting adequate checks on the ability of loanees to repay the debt.

The latest at-risk figures revealed by Starling boss Anne Boden are far higher than those of other banks who appeared before the Committee.

Starling maintains that a large proportion of its BBLS customers were relatively ‘young’ businesses, which have a higher probability of failing than more established businesses. Many of the big banks lent only, or primarily, to their existing customers with whom they may have had a long-standing relationship.

Boden told the Committee that Starling had rejected around £344m worth of BBL applications, equating to about 16 per cent of applications.

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Comments: (2)

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

Curious to know the latest status of Starling Bank CEO Anne Boden's threat of legal action against former anti-fraud minister Lord Agnew. 

Bob Lyddon

Bob Lyddon Consultant at Lyddon Consulting Services

This is a disgrace and probably the end of the neo-bank sector in the UK. It is an affront to decent hardworking families. I wonder how the losses compare to the income tax and national insurance paid over by the workforce at an employer like the steelworks in Consett Count Durham for its entire existence - up in smoke!

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