Barrister funding: finance for barristers and chambers

• Delayed fees: fee notes go to instructing solicitors, and fees for privately funded, legal aid and prosecution work can each take a long time to arrive, sometimes only after a case concludes.
• Clerks and fee collection: clerks chase fees, but a barrister has limited control over when a solicitor or public body pays.
• Tax timing: self-employed barristers pay income tax through self-assessment, including large January and July payments, and many are VAT registered.
• Chambers costs: rent and expenses contributions are due whatever your receipts, whether charged as a flat amount or a share of fees.
• Early practice: newly qualified tenants face set-up costs before a steady flow of fees builds up.

Most self-employed barristers borrow as individuals (sole traders), so the lender assesses your personal tax returns and credit file and you are personally liable for the debt. Some lenders only offer certain products to individuals above or below particular loan sizes, which is one reason the same barrister can get different answers from different lenders. Barristers practising through an entity or chambers company are assessed as that business.

Most barrister funding is unsecured: as a self-employed barrister you borrow personally, so your own liability for the debt takes the place of the separate personal guarantee a company director would give.

Aged-fee facilities are supported by the outstanding fees themselves, with the lender usually taking an assignment of, or charge over, the fee notes it funds and sometimes agreeing with your clerks how those fees are paid. IT and equipment finance is secured on the kit, which the funder owns until the final payment on hire purchase or leasing. Larger borrowing, or a chambers buying or refitting premises, may need a legal charge over property, and where chambers trades through a company, lenders often ask the members or heads of chambers for guarantees. Our guide to secured versus unsecured loans explains the difference.

Before taking on new borrowing, it is worth checking whether a payment plan, a specialist premium facility or firmer fee collection would solve the problem more cheaply.

• For a self-assessment bill you cannot pay in full, HMRC may agree a Time to Pay arrangement; our guide to Time to Pay versus a tax loan compares the two.
• Annual insurance can be spread through PII premium finance rather than a general loan.
• Working with your clerks on how fee notes are chased, as set out in our guide to chasing late payments, can shorten the wait for fees.
• A personal or business overdraft can cover small, short gaps; see overdrafts versus business loans.

Tax and VAT funding and smaller unsecured practice loans for barristers are typically decided within a few working days of a complete application, while aged-fee facilities can take a little longer because the lender reviews your outstanding fee notes and who owes them.

Send us your latest tax return or accounts, recent bank statements, a summary of fees outstanding, and what you need the funding for. We will explain the realistic options and approach suitable lenders. Decisions can come within a few working days once a lender has everything it needs. Approval is always the lender's decision. To discuss your requirement, you can start an enquiry online.