One of the most common worries we hear is quiet and personal: “I had a CCJ a few years back — is there any point applying?” The honest answer is that adverse history is rarely the end of the road. The FCA assesses people in the round, and what sinks applications is almost never the event itself. It's how the event is handled on the form.
When you apply for consumer credit authorisation, the FCA doesn't only assess your business — it assesses the people who own and run it, against what's known as the fit and proper test. For a limited permission firm that assessment centres on the person holding the SMF29 function, along with directors and significant owners.
What the fit and proper test actually covers
The test has three strands. Honesty, integrity and reputation — convictions, regulatory findings, disqualifications, and whether you've been straight in your dealings. Competence and capability — whether you can actually run the regulated activity you're applying for. And financial soundness — which is where CCJs, defaults, IVAs and bankruptcy come in.
Notice what the test is not: it is not a credit score with a pass mark. The FCA is asking whether the people behind the firm can be trusted to run a regulated business honestly and competently. Financial difficulty in your past is evidence to be weighed, not a verdict.
CCJs, defaults and bad credit
A satisfied CCJ from several years ago, with a sensible explanation and clean conduct since, is a very different thing from a string of recent unsatisfied judgments. What the FCA looks for is the pattern and the response: what happened, why, how you dealt with it, and what your position is now. A single historic CCJ that you disclose, date and explain is routinely survivable.
Bankruptcy, IVAs and failed companies
A discharged bankruptcy or a completed IVA sits in the same category: relevant, disclosable, and assessed in context — how long ago, what caused it, and how your affairs have run since. Directorships of companies that failed or were dissolved also come up, and the FCA can see them at Companies House whether you mention them or not. An honest account of a business that didn't work out is normal commercial history. Undisclosed insolvent liquidations are something else entirely.
The serious end of the scale is different in kind: an undischarged bankruptcy, a live director disqualification, or convictions involving dishonesty. These go to the heart of the test and will weigh heavily — if that's your position, take proper advice before spending the non-refundable £560 application fee.
The mistake that actually kills applications
Non-disclosure. The application asks direct questions about convictions, insolvency, judgments and past directorships, and the FCA checks the answers against Companies House, the Insolvency Register, its own intelligence and criminal records checks. A CCJ you disclose is a financial-soundness data point. A CCJ you conceal becomes an integrity finding — and integrity is the one strand of the test with no sympathetic reading. Applications fail on the cover-up, not the event.
How to disclose well
Treat every disclosure as three sentences: what happened, with dates and amounts; why it happened; and what has happened since. Attach the paperwork if you have it. A disclosure written this way reads as exactly what it is — a business owner being straight about their history — and it lets the case officer close the point instead of opening an investigation. It also feeds a stronger regulatory business plan, because the FCA's real question is always about the future, not the past.
Starting afresh with a new company after a past insolvency? The application is judged on the new firm and its people, not on trading history: see applying with no trading history.
How we handle it
Our questionnaire asks the adverse-history question up front, in confidence, precisely because knowing first lets us present it properly. We review any disclosure before work begins; in the rare case we conclude we can't act, your deposit is refunded in full. What we will never do is help anyone leave something off the form — because it doesn't work, and because it turns a survivable history into an unanswerable integrity question.
Frequently asked questions
- Will a CCJ automatically stop FCA authorisation?
No. A CCJ is relevant to the financial-soundness strand of the fit and proper test, but it is weighed in context — how long ago, whether it was satisfied, why it happened and how you've conducted your affairs since. A disclosed, explained, historic CCJ is routinely survivable.
- Can I get FCA authorised after bankruptcy or an IVA?
Often, yes, once discharged or completed. The FCA looks at the cause, the time elapsed and your conduct since. An undischarged bankruptcy or a live director disqualification is a different matter and weighs heavily against approval.
- Does the FCA run credit and background checks?
Yes. The FCA cross-checks applications against Companies House, insolvency records and its own intelligence, and firms are expected to have carried out criminal records checks on senior managers. Assume everything checkable will be checked.
- What happens if I just don't mention it?
Non-disclosure is the most damaging move available. A concealed event becomes an honesty and integrity finding rather than a financial one, and applications fail on the cover-up far more often than on the underlying history.
- Does a failed or dissolved company count against me?
It must be disclosed — the application asks about past directorships and the FCA can see them at Companies House. An honestly explained business failure is normal commercial history; an undisclosed one reads as concealment.
This article is general information to help you understand the process, and is not legal or regulatory advice. CreditLicence is a regulatory consultancy; nothing it provides is regulated advice, and it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the FCA. FCA rules can change; always check the FCA's website for the current position.