Trade credit insurance has one simple aim; to support your business when a customer fails to pay a trade debt. That situation may occur when a customer becomes insolvent or does not pay within the contracted terms (a protracted default). The insurance indemnifies a proportion (up to 90%) of the debt owed to you. You must have traded within the limit we give you for that customer.
Understanding trade credit insurance
The
premium is calculated for your business and the way you trade. This helps us
make sure you receive the best match and service excellence for your business
as well as an affordable premium. If you haven’t used it before, here’s how
to work out what it might cost for one of our more popular policy types. The
premium is based on a percentage of your sales, generally below 1%. Suppose
your sales were USD 2 million
last year and you want to cover that entire turnover. Then the premium would
usually be less than USD
20,000.
Remember that premiums go up or down from year to year. They are affected
by the losses you have experienced in the past, the customers you deal with
and the sector you work in. Covering political risk as well as trade risk
costs more. We calculate the best price for your situation so that these
factors and your needs are taken into account.
Trade debts can make up 40% or more of business assets. Just a few instances of failure to pay can make a big impact on your cash flow. The cost to a business of non-payment can be considerable. If you have a 5% profit margin and suffer a USD 100,000 debt, you’ll need to win sales of USD 2 million to make up for the lost profits. Plus, your financial position can be weakened by bad debts in other ways. For example, your cash flow will be affected and you will have less capacity for investment. Banks and finance providers could charge you higher interest. The morale of your employees may be affected if they become worried about their future in the business. Consider these effects and what they might cost when you think about the value you will gain from trade credit insurance.
Every business can benefit from good credit management. Trade credit insurance is one of the most important tools for that purpose. If you’re selling on open account terms to other businesses then trade credit insurance could bring many benefits. Even if you trade on other terms we have services that can support and strengthen your trading activity.
We’ve designed a range of trade credit offers for different types of business and transactions. Every business can benefit from good credit management.
Please get in touch with us to discuss what would be most suitable for you.
We’ve designed a range of trade credit offers for different types of business and transactions. Every business can benefit from good credit management.
Please get in touch with us to discuss what would be most suitable for you.
Our insurance is designed for businesses with sales of at least USD 2 million per year, but companies with sales of as little as USD 1 million sometimes find our services to be a good fit, depending on the situation. If your sales are lower than this, our insurance may not be the most suitable product for you. We suggest you speak to your insurance broker or business bank manager who will be able to point to other ways you can protect your business.
Yes, we have experience in supporting longer term transactions (for example, multi-year contracts). Get in touch with us and let us know what you need. We’ll be pleased to make recommendations.
There are many benefits to trade credit insurance. If you have just started with trade credit insurance it can be useful to review your processes and procedures so that you gain the greatest value from your policy. We can advise you on best practice too. Here are some examples of what you can do.
- Train your employees on the use of our systems. Use our information on limits and grades to improve credit control and defend against catastrophic bad-debt losses.
- Demonstrate the enhanced quality of your accounts receivable when negotiating with lenders to access better terms.
- Build our information into your sales planning to target the most financially sound new customers.
- When developing strategy and business plans, identify the risks in new markets and opportunity areas with our data.
- Access our debt collection capabilities and network to accelerate speed of payment. Aligning your processes with our systems will improve efficiency.
- Strengthen your cash flow by insuring invoices so that you are indemnified for non-payment.
- Design your financial management and reporting to identify performance improvements.
- Train your employees on the use of our systems. Use our information on limits and grades to improve credit control and defend against catastrophic bad-debt losses.
- Demonstrate the enhanced quality of your accounts receivable when negotiating with lenders to access better terms.
- Build our information into your sales planning to target the most financially sound new customers.
- When developing strategy and business plans, identify the risks in new markets and opportunity areas with our data.
- Access our debt collection capabilities and network to accelerate speed of payment. Aligning your processes with our systems will improve efficiency.
- Strengthen your cash flow by insuring invoices so that you are indemnified for non-payment.
- Design your financial management and reporting to identify performance improvements.
Many businesses trade with long standing customers that seem well funded. They believe payment can be relied on. However, even the strongest commercial concerns can be affected by the economic cycle and commercial trends.
It takes considerable investment in data collection to keep track of customers’ financial health and to evaluate the risk of non-payment. We make that investment so you don’t have to and make analysis available to you. Insurance backed by insight allows you to trade with confidence through all phases of the cycle; today and tomorrow.
It takes considerable investment in data collection to keep track of customers’ financial health and to evaluate the risk of non-payment. We make that investment so you don’t have to and make analysis available to you. Insurance backed by insight allows you to trade with confidence through all phases of the cycle; today and tomorrow.
To help you with claims
The amount we pay when you claim is called the indemnity. The level of indemnity on our policies typically ranges from 90% of the amount of the debt. The variation depends on the policy you select, how you manage credit terms, the state of your accounts receivable portfolio and your premium target. We promise that we’ll avoid delivering surprises later on. When you set up your policy we’ll work out some examples to guide you.
Our aim is to pay you within 30 days of the date of loss. The same applies to export losses caused by insolvency. If any other factor causes losses in exporting it can sometimes take longer while we check conditions in the destination country.
Yes. We have the technology to give you excellent service and more options for how to work with us. You can request credit limits, make a new claim and monitor progress on your current claims via the internet with EOLIS, our 24/7 system.
Send us your suggestions or feedback.
No. When you take out a trade credit insurance policy with us you will be able to make use of our expert debt collection service. It operates worldwide, covering all sizes of debt.
Collecting debts is a step by step process and can be monitored continually. We start with telephone calls and letters which make the request clear and use our name and reputation in the market. We enter into negotiation with your customer. If none of those steps are successful, within an acceptable length of time, we can provide a legal service from judgment to enforcement action. We’ll discuss this with you before any action is taken. Collection costs can be indemnified in accordance with your policy.
It varies depending on the case and country. Economic, political and cultural reasons all affect customer behaviour. We aim to make an agreement with the debtor as quickly as possible. We avoid legal action as it can lead to long delays. When you work with our collection teams they will discuss with you what to expect and give you an idea of how long it could take.
Sometimes we follow all the usual steps (before legal action) without success. At that point we’ll discuss the situation with you and explain what options are available. Alternatively, you might want to take legal action. If it’s appropriate, we’ll let you know the chances of success, how long it could take and what it might cost so that you can decide whether to proceed. At this stage, a benefit of being credit insured with us is that we will also start assessing a claim under your policy.
Yes. We are committed to protecting your customer portfolio. As a third party with a global reputation, local knowledge and deep insight into customer finances, we can often negotiate more effectively to make sure you receive payments when they are due.
Your guarantee of a global service is our network of offices in 50 countries, including all the major economies in the world. That presence on the ground is backed by close partnerships with lawyers and collection agents in many more territories. In total we can reach into over 130 countries.
Yes. Around the world we employ more than 600 dedicated commercial debt collectors. We constantly invest in their training and the development of their skills. The team is closely coordinated, working with systems and processes that define best practice in debt collection.
Our collectors don’t just work for us, they work for you. They are ambassadors for your organisation when they focus on collecting the payments owed to you.
Our collectors don’t just work for us, they work for you. They are ambassadors for your organisation when they focus on collecting the payments owed to you.
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