9:00 am, May 24, 2025
I first joined the motor finance industry 15 years ago, and the feeling I got from dealers and others in the trade about subprime customers and finance companies wasn’t great.
Subprime’ was practically a dirty word. I was repeatedly told that subprime customers weren’t worth the hassle, that they had bad credit because they never paid their bills, and that they were best avoided.
There wasn’t much love for subprime finance companies either; long-winded processes, drawn-out decisions, and bad experiences. As time passed and I spoke with more dealers and more customers, that stereotype started to unravel.
Sure, some people don’t pay their bills, but most people I spoke to were just… people. Nurses working night shifts. Long-distance lorry drivers. Parents juggling childcare, bills, and full-time jobs. Ordinary people who’d fallen on hard times, redundancy, illness, divorce, and were just trying to get back on track.
They weren’t looking for sympathy – they were looking for a chance. Someone to listen to them and understand how they’d ended up where they were, rather than being declined by an algorithm on a computer.
Thankfully, over the last few years, I think the industry’s perception has started to shift and dealers are waking up to the idea that a credit score doesn’t tell the whole story.
I believe affordability, intent, and life stability can’t be neatly summed up in a number – people aren’t numbers!
At First Response Finance, we look beyond the credit file. Our underwriters focus on the person behind the application, which is why, over the last 20 years, we’ve helped thousands of dealers sell more cars and support subprime customers buy the car they need and want.
Yes, some in the motor trade still write off a subprime customer. But I know that if you partnered with us, it could be the difference between waving someone out the door or handing them the keys to a car on your forecourt.
I believe that if we bring a little empathy, and some common sense into the subprime conversation, we don’t just get better results, I think we build a better industry.
So maybe ‘subprime’ was never the dirty word and the issue is the perception? Want to learn more? Visit our dealer site or get in touch on 01156711755, we’d love to help.
This column originally appeared in issue 207 of Car Dealer Magazine. You can read the full edition here.
