Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether businesses that have taken out a loan under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme are able to convert that loan into a Bounce Back Loan.

All accredited lenders who have approved Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) so far will allow customers to transfer their loan into the Bounce Back Loan (BBL) scheme. The BBL scheme launched on 4 May. Transferring to a BBL loan will remove any repayments due in the first 12 months and incur a lower rate of interest than on CBILS facilities. However, consumer protections under these schemes differ, and businesses should discuss these with their lenders. Businesses do not need to request the transfer immediately. In order to enable lenders to focus on dealing with new applications first, there will be a window of 6 months for any transfer requests.