NAB Chattel Mortgage: Broker Guide

A NAB chattel mortgage is the bank’s vehicle and equipment loan: your client’s business buys the asset, owns it from the outset and uses it as security. The broker’s task is to match the purchase to the right business-finance pathway, then establish repayment capacity and satisfy the asset’s settlement conditions.

NAB Product Name and Chattel Structure

As at October 2026, NAB calls its chattel-mortgage product a vehicle and equipment loan. The business owns the purchased asset and NAB takes security over it. NAB’s chattel-mortgage explanation distinguishes this from a finance lease, where the financier owns the asset during the lease.

NAB’s product page describes fixed interest rates and repayments, with a balloon option. A balloon leaves a lump sum to repay at the end of the term. It reduces regular repayments but leaves a separate funding task when the loan ends.

Record how the client intends to pay that final amount. A proposed sale depends on the asset’s value at that time, while refinancing depends on a later credit decision. Neither is an automatic exit.

NAB advertises the purchased asset as the security, subject to lending criteria. Keep any guarantee obligations separate from the asset-security description when reviewing the offer.

Leave goods and services tax (GST), depreciation and deductibility decisions to the client’s qualified tax or accounting adviser. The general chattel-mortgage guide explains the structure across lenders.

Eligible Transaction and Asset

As at October 2026, NAB equipment finance covers business vehicles, agricultural machinery, construction and access equipment, plus other equipment such as computers and manufacturing assets. The product page requires a valid Australian Business Number (ABN), GST registration and mainly business use.

Describe what the asset does in the business. A delivery van replaces transport capacity, while a machine might support a new contract. Separate that purchase purpose from working capital or repayment of unrelated debt.

NAB’s online application pathway has narrower conditions. It lists at least 12 months’ ABN registration, annual turnover of $75,000 or more and a $150,000 total purchase-price cap, including GST and on-road costs. Listed vehicles and construction assets can be up to five years old, with listed agricultural equipment up to seven years old.

Those conditions belong to the online pathway. They don’t establish the limit of every broker-arranged NAB equipment loan.

Before requesting a quote, record the following facts for the equipment-finance team.

• Exact asset type, manufacture year and intended business use.
• New or used condition, operating hours or odometer reading and remaining useful life.
• Dealer or private seller, supplier identity and whether the asset is ready for delivery.
• Purchase price, deposit or trade-in and any existing finance over the asset.
• Purchase, reimbursement or refinance request, with the relevant payment or debt history.

Get a case-specific answer for an older or specialised asset, a private sale or a refinance. State the precise transaction when asking. Approval for a dealer purchase doesn’t establish acceptance of the same asset in a different transaction.

Use the equipment-finance guide for wider supplier and useful-life checks. The asset-finance policy hub separates lender-specific requirements.

Business and Financial Evidence

Build the evidence around the borrowing entity and the cash available for repayments. As at October 2026, NAB’s business-finance document guide generally asks for two years of financial statements and a full tax portal report. Its online equipment-loan pathway can instead request accounting data and business transaction history.

Use the checklist for the selected pathway. General business-finance guidance doesn’t make every document mandatory for every equipment loan.

Evidence	What to establish before submission
Identity and business registration	The applicant and borrowing entity match the application and asset purchase
Company, partnership or trust details	Who owns and controls the business, and who can sign
Profit and loss statements and balance sheets	Current income, expenses and debt support the proposed borrowing
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) records and business activity statements	Tax balances and reported trading are consistent with the financials
Business transaction history	Cash receipts support turnover. Explain existing repayments and any missed payments
Liability schedule and account statements	Loan balances, recurring repayments and tax payment arrangements are fully disclosed
Individual financial information where requested	Directors’ or shareholders’ income, assets and debts support their disclosed position

NAB’s general guide also identifies recent management financials and cash-flow projections as possible requests for more complex businesses. Keep periods consistent when reconciling those records.

Match the requested borrowing to the invoice, then show the cash-flow effect. Include existing debt repayments and the asset’s running costs. A lower instalment with a balloon still leaves the final payment to fund.

Example: Reconcile the Purchase and Cash Flow

In this fictional case, a delivery business buys a new van for $88,000 including GST and pays a $10,000 deposit. The remaining purchase amount is $78,000 before any separately financed charges. Keep the deposit receipt with the invoice so the settlement request doesn’t fund the full price again.

Suppose the proposed repayment is $1,600 a month and additional insurance, maintenance and operating costs total $500 a month. The business needs $2,100 a month for the new commitment. These are illustrative figures, not a NAB quote or approval calculation.

Compare that commitment with cash left after existing expenses and debts. Explain seasonal low points and any balloon separately. Revenue alone doesn’t show whether the business can meet the payment.

Asset Documents and Settlement

An invoice and conditional approval don’t mean the purchase is funded. As at October 2026, NAB’s product page ties collection to signed documents, satisfied outstanding requirements and payment to the supplier.

Keep an asset-specific settlement record.

Document or check	What it must resolve
Final invoice or sale agreement	Correct purchaser, supplier, asset description and price, with tax details where applicable
Asset identifiers	Registration, vehicle identification number or serial number matches the approved asset
Seller and ownership evidence	The supplier can transfer the identified asset and the payment recipient matches the sale
Valuation or inspection	Any bank-required assessment is complete and covers the actual asset
Insurance evidence	The offer’s required cover, commencement date and lender interest are satisfied
Existing-security search or payout arrangements	Any existing finance is dealt with under NAB’s settlement instructions
Executed loan and any guarantee documents	Correct parties sign in the required capacity and all execution conditions are met
Payment and delivery confirmation	Funding reaches the agreed recipient and the asset is available for collection

For private sales, NAB’s online pathway requires registration evidence for cars, utes and vans. It uses an inspection or approved-panel valuation depending on the asset. It requires formal valuations for specified heavy vehicles and equipment, and its Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) search must show no existing finance.

A private-sale asset with existing debt therefore needs its security position resolved before that online purchase can proceed. Give NAB the payout and release facts for a case-specific route. Don’t promise acceptance before the bank agrees to the arrangements.

NAB’s broker electronic-signing guide directs document corrections to the NAB broker team. Have the borrower and broker review the details before execution. Describe the loan as settled only after the bank confirms funding, with the settlement record retained.

Application Route and Exceptions

NAB’s small-business broker page, dated 24 April 2020, expressly includes equipment finance. It connects brokers through a business development manager (BDM) to a business banker. Use that business-finance connection for the proposed transaction and obtain the equipment-finance quote and submission instructions.

For equipment-finance accreditation, NAB’s broker accreditation page requires aggregator approval. It also specifies relevant business-banking or commercial-lending experience and Commercial & Asset Finance Brokers Association (CAFBA) membership. Residential accreditation alone doesn’t establish equipment-finance accreditation.

The direct customer route is a callback through the vehicle and equipment loan page. NAB also lists 13 10 12 for vehicle and equipment-finance enquiries. Use those destinations to reach the correct specialist when a commercial contact hasn’t been assigned.

Keep an equipment-finance quote and application separate from a NAB home-loan assessment. A residential portal login or home-loan approval doesn’t identify the asset-finance submission route.

For an exception request, give the team the actual departure from the proposed pathway. Attach the asset details, supplier information and financial explanation that address it. Explain the requested term and balloon, plus any valuation, existing-security or settlement issue.

A previous approval can help describe the history of a similar case. It doesn’t create a current rule for asset age, private sales or documentation. Record NAB’s answer for this borrower and asset, then submit through the agreed equipment-finance route with every stated condition accounted for.