Loan Agreements
Borrowers, directors and occupiers asked to sign loan documents
Independent advice and certificates on loan agreements, facility letters and related security documents.
Guarantors, borrowers, directors, occupiers and family members
Independent legal advice solicitor
Clear, certified advice before you sign — so you understand the document, and the lender gets the certificate it requires.
Lenders frequently require a guarantor, borrower or occupier to take independent legal advice before signing, and to produce a solicitor's certificate confirming that the advice was given. The requirement exists to protect the lender, but the appointment is genuinely useful to you: it is the one point at which someone explains the document in plain English before it binds you.
We provide that advice as an independent solicitor, acting for you alone and not for the lender or the borrower.
Who this service is for
- Directors and shareholders asked to guarantee company borrowing
- Spouses, partners and family members asked to consent to a charge over a property
- Occupiers required to sign a deed of consent or postponement
- Borrowers who want a document explained before completion
- Brokers and lenders whose file requires an independent certificate
Documents we advise on
- Personal guarantees
- Scope, caps, demand provisions, joint and several liability and release.
- Loan agreements and facility letters
- Key commercial terms, events of default, interest and enforcement consequences.
- Legal charges and security
- What a charge over a property means in practice, including possession and sale on default.
- Occupier consent and postponement deeds
- What rights you are giving up, and what happens if the lender enforces.
- Lender certificates
- Completion of the lender's prescribed certificate where its requirements are compatible with our professional duties.
How the appointment works
- You send the draft documents, the lender's certificate requirements and your identification in advance
- We review the documents and identify the terms that carry the real risk
- We meet you alone, by video or in person, and explain the document and its consequences
- You have the opportunity to ask questions and to consider whether to negotiate terms
- We sign and return the certificate, and confirm the advice to you in writing
Typical timeline
1. Enquiry and deadline check
Tell us the lender's deadline; we confirm whether it can be met.
2. Documents and identification
Draft documents, certificate and ID provided in advance.
3. Advice meeting
A private appointment covering the document and its consequences for you.
4. Certificate
Certificate completed and returned, with written confirmation of the advice given.
Why instruct us
- Genuinely independent: we do not act for the lender or the borrower on the transaction
- Appointments explained in plain English, without assuming financial knowledge
- Property and litigation background, so enforcement consequences are explained realistically
- Available by video across England & Wales, from our Watford office
Where we act
We advise on documents governed by the law of England & Wales, meeting clients by video throughout the country and in person at our Watford office.
Independent Legal Advice — how we can help
Each area below sets out the issues we handle, the steps involved and what to send us first.
Personal Guarantees
Directors, shareholders, spouses and partners asked to guarantee
Independent advice and certificates for guarantors of company borrowing, leases and commercial facilities.
Frequently asked questions
What is independent legal advice?
It is advice given to you alone, by a solicitor who does not act for the lender or the other party, so that you understand the nature and consequences of the document you are being asked to sign.
The solicitor then signs a certificate confirming that the advice was given, which the lender relies on.
Why does the lender insist the advice is independent?
To reduce the risk that the document is later set aside on the basis that you did not understand it or were unduly influenced. That protection only works if the solicitor advising you is genuinely independent of the borrower and the lender.
How quickly can an independent legal advice appointment be arranged?
We normally need the draft documents, the lender's certificate and your identification in advance, and the appointment itself is usually a single meeting by video or in person.
Send the lender's deadline with your enquiry so we can tell you honestly whether it can be met.
Start Your Enquiry
Tell us briefly what has happened and what you need. Email and telephone are both required so we can respond in the way that suits you.