How to Review a Personal Guarantee on a Vendor Credit Application

Two lines above the box say I personally guarantee. That is not a director-capacity stamp. Write what the sentence does to the house versus the Ltd, lock a pound cap, a sunset, and this-order-only, then strike, initial, and get a written vendor acknowledgement. Fill a keep / narrow / walk log. One sentence should pause the pen. Then keep, narrow, or walk.

On 3 September 2026, Yara — Founder, 8-person UK studio — has Finance’s yes on a materials supplier. Net-30 unlocks a Monday print run. Above her name: “I personally guarantee all payments due, including any increase in the credit limit.” No cap, a co-founder jointly and several, a home address. Typical mistake under Monday pressure: treating that line as a director stamp. The hidden risk is the house.

One signature on a trade-account form can be enough. In Screwfix Direct Ltd t/a Trade UK v Paterson [2024] SC HAM 1 (Hamilton Sheriff Court, Scotland, 3 January 2024 — structure-only), James Paterson signed once, as director, including “any subsequent increase/s in credit limit.” He said he had only bound the Ltd. The sheriff held it was a personal guarantee — otherwise redundant (BAILII, 2024; Ai Law, 2025, structure-only). Scotland, not an England and Wales precedent.

Disclaimer: Checkory provides AI support, not legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer for binding decisions.

How do you hunt the signature block for “I personally guarantee”?

Search the box and the two lines above it for I, me, personally, guarantee, guaranty, and individually liable. Highlight those words, not the company name at the top. A Director label with no personal-promise sentence is not automatically a guarantee — still hunt incorporated T&Cs.

Freeze the packet — the credit application plus incorporated terms. One walk: the contract packet checklist. Fiffik Law (US, structure-only): hunt “personally guarantee,” “I guaranty,” “individually liable.” Who may bind the Ltd is a different question — the signing-authority checklist. For example, Yara’s two lines already contain the hunt words.

• Do: highlight I / me / personally / guarantee before the pen moves.
• Do not: treat “Director” under the box as proof the Ltd alone is on the hook.

What does the sentence do to company paper versus your house?

Write it in one line: the Ltd owes the invoices; you pay if the Ltd does not. That cuts through limited liability for this creditor. The vendor need not finish with the company first unless the clause says so. Home and savings can be in play.

The GOV.UK Director information hub (updated 20 May 2026): the director personally repays if the company fails on that debt. Company debts stay with the Ltd unless a guarantee applies. Sprintlaw UK (2025), structure-only: under England and Wales rules a guarantee generally needs to be in writing and signed (Statute of Frauds 1677). Companies Act 2006 limited liability holds until that promise. In practice, a home address is a collection map. If the studio is later insolvent, do not prefer the guaranteed supplier.

• Do: write Ltd pays invoices; she pays if it does not.
• Do not: assume the vendor must exhaust the company before touching the house.

How do you lock a cap, a sunset, and this-order-only?

The default draft is continuing, all monies, hereafter, and any increase in the credit limit. That is not Monday’s print run. Ask in writing for a pound cap, an end date, and this-facility-only. If they refuse a number, walk.

Buyer ask, not a statute: a £ cap or three months of spend; a sunset; this-order-only, not silent renewals. Fenwick Elliott, structure-only: avoid all monies; limit-increase language is the trap. Notice can cut future orders; accrued stays. There is no UK statutory “three months of spend.” Do not treat a twelve-year deed limitation as Yara’s sunset.

• Do: negotiate a £ figure, an end date, and this-application-only on the marked form.
• Do not: accept “hereafter” and limit increases without a new signature.

What does joint and several with a co-founder actually collect?

Hunt jointly and severally and each of us for the full amount. The vendor can collect 100% from any one guarantor — usually the one with a house. Several-only means a stated share.

GOV.UK lists joint and several as a personal-guarantee type: multiple guarantors liable for the full debt. Harper James (2025), structure-only: trade creditors do insist; they can pick the easiest house. Ask several only. A contribution note between founders is internal — it does not bind the vendor. Walk a form that names Yara alone as unlimited guarantor.

• Do: ask several-only or a £ cap each.
• Do not: assume a co-founder’s name splits the house risk 50–50.

Should you strike, initial, and wait for written acknowledgement?

If the guarantee is not a deal, put one line through the sentence, initial it, and send a cover email that the studio applies without a personal guarantee — or with the cap and sunset written in. Keep the marked PDF. A silent strike is not a deal.

Fiffik’s mechanic: strike plus initials plus a written note. A one-sided strike the vendor never acknowledged can be disputed. Ask for countersign or a clean form. Verbal “don’t worry” is not a term. If they refuse: smaller limit, deposit, or another supplier.

• Do: keep the marked PDF plus the vendor’s email or countersign.
• Do not: treat a unilateral strike-through or a verbal “everyone signs” as a release.

Checklist: what do you lock before a home address goes on the form?

Pause the home-address line until the guarantee is gone or narrowed with written acknowledgement. Success bar: a one-page log and one sentence that would pause signature. “I signed as director” is not that sentence if the form already says I personally guarantee.

Workflow: packet → hunt I/personally/guarantee → Ltd vs house → cap + sunset + this-order-only → J&S / several → strike + initial + written ack → keep / narrow / walk. Checkory can run a first-pass — a first machine pass that extracts clauses — on the same PDF at document analysis. A human still opens every High sentence.

• Do: fill the log, circle one High sentence, then keep, narrow, or walk.
• Do not: put a home address on an unlimited continuing form to unlock Monday print.