When you promise to repay a company debt from your own pocket if the company can’t.

• Business example: A director of a café signs a bank loan for new kitchen equipment. If the café folds, the bank can go after the director’s personal savings.
• Property example: A limited company buys a buy to let flat with a mortgage. The lender insists the director personally guarantees the mortgage; if rents dry up, the director’s family home is on the line.

You agree another lender gets paid first if the borrower defaults.

• Business example: You lend £70 k to a friend’s start up; the bank demands a subordination deed so it will be repaid ahead of you if the company fails.
• Property example: You lend your child £50 k for a house deposit; their mortgage lender makes you sign a subordination deed, so the lender takes priority if the property is sold at a loss.

You’re on the mortgage but not on the legal title.

• Business example: Two siblings buy a shop; one can’t be on the deeds for tax reasons but joins the loan so the bank will lend enough. That sibling is still liable for every repayment.
• Property example: A parent adds their income to a child’s residential mortgage application but stays off the deeds; the parent remains fully liable even without ownership rights.

Someone living in the property gives up the right to stop a repossession.

• Business example: An employee is given a tied cottage owned by the company; the company’s lender asks the employee to sign a waiver so repossession can proceed if the business collapses.
• Property example: Your partner buys a flat in their sole name; you move in. The mortgage lender needs you to sign an occupier’s consent confirming you’ll vacate if they repossess.

You charge your own property as security for someone else’s debt.

• Business example: A parent director secures a company overdraft against their personal home; if the firm can’t repay, their house could be sold.
• Property example: You pledge your home as extra security so your daughter can borrow more on her house purchase; if she defaults, your property is at risk of repossession.

You give money as an unconditional gift, not a loan.

• Business example: A director gifts company profits (taken as dividends) to a sibling for their first office purchase; the lender needs written proof it’s a gift.
• Property example: Parents gift £30 k to a child for a residential deposit; the bank requires a deed confirming no repayment or future stake is expected.

Someone is added to or removed from a property’s legal title.

• Business example: Two partners split; one partner’s share of a shop is transferred out, but they stay on the business mortgage. Independent advice confirms they understand ongoing liability.
• Property example: During a remortgage, spouses add one partner to the family home’s deeds. The incoming partner receives ILA to be sure of their new responsibilities.

A company guarantees a debt or gives a lender rights over all its assets.

• Business example: A manufacturing firm signs a debenture covering stock, machinery and accounts to secure a working capital loan; default lets the lender seize those assets.
• Property example: A property investment company grants a debenture over its entire portfolio—including a newly purchased block of flats—as extra security for a large mortgage facility.