Applying for finance

Yes — we’re happy to finance start-ups and applicants without any trading history, subject to them meeting our standard credit-assessment criteria.

We’ll finance virtually any type of commercial kitchen equipment that helps your business make a profit. 

The equipment must have an invoice value of $1,000 or more (Rent–Try–Buy and Custom Equipment Lease) or $10,000 or more (Lease-to-Keep). 

You can finance either standard equipment (Rent–Try–Buy or Lease-to-Keep), or custom-made and other ‘non-standard’ equipment (Custom Equipment Lease or Rent–Try–Buy). See custom equipment list

We’ll consider financing commercial-grade kitchen appliances of any value (there’s no limit) subject to the applicant meeting the relevant credit-assessment criteria.

You can apply for finance from us one of several ways:

• SilverChef website
• Calling us on 1800 337 153 
• At one of hundreds of equipment-dealer showrooms throughout Australia.

When you apply for $65,000 or less of Rent–Try–Buy finance, we’ll generally only ask you three things:

1. Who you are (driver’s licence and Medicare number).
2. The business the equipment is for (Australian business number, or ABN). 
3. The business address (i.e. where the equipment will be located).

We’ll then run an identification and credit check before giving you a decision on your application.  

To find out what’s required for applications for more than $65,000 of Rent–Try–Buy finance or for Lease-to-Keep finance or Custom Equipment Lease finance, please contact us.

As of September 2022, our application-approval rate was more than 96%.

Yes — we can offer you finance for our own range of refurbished commercial kitchen equipment, which we refer to as ‘Certified Used’.  

This is mostly ex-rental equipment that’s been stripped, cleaned, and serviced by qualified professionals before being rigorously tested.  

We’re so confident in the quality of our Certified Used equipment, it comes with a minimum three-month warranty. 

Our clearance equipment includes not only runout and scratch-and-dent equipment, but also used and ex-demo equipment supplied by our equipment-dealer partners. 

You can find this Certified Used and clearance equipment on our website; you can either finance the equipment through SilverChef or purchase it outright from us. 

Read more about Certified Used equipment.

Yes — you can finance a mix of new and used (‘Certified Used’ and clearance) equipment, which can help your budget go further. 

We can work with you to come up with the optimal combination for your business situation and/or financial position.

If you’ve been trading for more than 12 months, you can mix ‘n’ match: Rent some of your equipment through Rent–Try–Buy and finance the rest through Lease-to-Keep.

We can work with you to come up with the optimal combination for your business situation and/or financial position.

If you finance new equipment through us, we’ll consider paying you cash for your old equipment (i.e. a trade-in).  

Alternatively, if your business’s cash flow is tight and you need some quick cash to relieve the situation, we’ll consider buying any standard equipment with a serial number that you’ve bought recently (Buy Back). 

We’ll pay you a lump sum of cash — which you can inject into your business — and then rent the equipment back to you for manageable, weekly payments under a 12-month Rent–Try–Buy agreement.

Read more about Buy Back

With Rent–Try–Buy and Custom Equipment Lease, you can get approval for up to $65,000 of hospitality equipment finance in under five minutes (subject to you providing us with the information required and passing an identification and credit check). 

If you need more than $65,000, we’ll get back to you within one business day to ask you for additional information; we should be able to give you a decision on your application within three business days. 

Lease-to-Keep finance applications are typically assessed within two business days, subject to you providing us with all the information required. 

Yes — we’re happy to approve your finance before you select or order the equipment, so you know in advance how much you’ve got to spend. 

(Or we can approve it after you’ve found or ordered the equipment you want.)

The amount you’re approved for is your ‘master-agreement limit’, which is effectively the amount of credit you have available (i.e. your credit limit).  

You can use some or all of this credit — it’s up to you.  

If you use some of it, you can order more equipment later using the remaining amount.  

The good news is your master-agreement limit does not expire, and you won’t have to apply again until you reach your limit. (SilverChef reserves the right to reduce a customer’s limit at any time.) 

If you order additional equipment and if it’s been 90 days or more since your last transaction with us, we’ll re-run the credit check using the identification documents you provided to us when you first applied. 

A director’s guarantee is typically not required for Rent–Try–Buy funding amounts under $100,000. 

This funding is secured using the rented equipment as collateral. So, if your financial circumstances change and/or you no longer need the equipment, you simply return it to us.

A director’s guarantee is required for all Lease-to-Keep and Custom Equipment Lease agreements (regardless of the lease equipment’s value).

Once we’ve approved your finance and the dealer or supplier's sales quote for the equipment, we’ll ask you to review, electronically sign and return the rental or lease agreement to us (and pay your upfront costs). 

We use DocuSign for electronic signatures (or e-signatures). 

All you need to do to sign the rental or lease agreement is:

1. Click on the link in our email to you — with one click, you can access the agreement to review the terms.
2. If you're happy with the terms of the agreement, start the document signing process on virtually any internet-enabled device.
3. Follow the prompts — tabs and simple instructions guide you through the signing process.
4. Finish and you’re done — once you’re done signing, click ‘Finish’. That’s it!