The company’s CEO Paul Burgess said: “We see the human element of our decision making as crucial to our positioning as a flexible prime lender, a business that will spend more time looking at the situations of individual applicants whilst still achieving market leading service levels.

“Several of the lending parameters used by traditional prime lenders no longer apply to many applicants today thanks to changing patterns in areas such as careers and home ownership.

“Making the right decision for these applicants unavoidably incurs more people time, looking at their situation in a more holistic manner.”

The move will benefit customers who may be close to qualifying for prime status, whose applications need reviewing in detail. This could account for 20% of used car customers, who are often rejected by prime lenders.

Burgess said: “There is a tendency to pass customers who fail a prime application straight to sub-prime, which we believe is very unfair. In most cases, the drop from prime to sub-prime is vertiginous, with the APR rate rising by perhaps as much as double figures.

“Our approach instead is to take a closer look at the circumstances of the person making the finance application, often entering into a dialogue with the dealer.

"The thinking is that if we can gain an understanding of that person’s overall financial position, then we can potentially work to arrive at a sound and responsible lending solution that meets their needs.”