Our Shield and Castle Rating system was developed to give you an overview of which risk bands we consider a loan falls into. A Shield Rating is assigned to each Business Loan and a Castle Rating is assigned to each Property Bridging Loan presented on the site. We currently offer loans of 2, 3, 4 and 5 Shield for Business Loans and 3, 4 and 5 Castles for Property Bridging Loans. The higher the number of Shields/Castles, the better the rating, therefore 5 Shields/Castles are those ratings assigned to the strongest companies. The higher the rating; the lower the perceived risk.
Estimated default rates for Shield Ratings:
- Five Shields: 0.5%
- Four Shields: 1.25%
- Three Shields: 2.0%
When you are bidding in auctions, or buying loan parts on the Loan Exchange, you should seek a higher interest rate return from loans with fewer shields to compensate for the increase in risk.