Is it a legal requirement to have credit insurance?

No, credit insurance is not legally required – but it makes business sense as approximately 30% of all business assets are tied up in credit.

What is credit insurance and how does it work?

Credit insurance protects your company against the failure of your customers to pay trade credit debts owed to you. These debts can arise following a customer becoming insolvent or failing to pay within the agreed terms and conditions. You can find out more on what credit insurance is and why you would need it in our latest article.

What is the difference between trade credit and credit insurance?

There is no difference between credit insurance and trade credit insurance because they are the same thing, just named differently. A few different terminologies exist for this insurance product such as: trade credit insurance, business credit insurance, export credit insurance, or credit insurance. These are all an insurance policy to protect business accounts from loss due to credit risks such as protracted default, insolvency, or bankruptcy. Read our guide on trade credit insurance

Credit Insurance | Trade Credit Insurance

Name: Credit Insurance
Brand: Alan Boswell Group
Rating: 4.9 (1420 reviews)

Credit Insurance

Safeguard against the risk of non-payment by debtors, ensuring financial stability and mitigating potential losses due to insolvency or default.

Whole turnover

Key accounts

Single risk

Domestic, export, and political risks

Credit insurance, or trade credit insurance, is designed to protect one of your company’s largest assets; trade debtors.

If your customers fail to pay due to insolvency, protracted payment, or an adverse political event, your cash flow will not suffer.

The Alan Boswell Group Difference

The highly experienced credit team brings value by understanding the diversity of options available from today’s credit market whilst recognising that your business is unique. We understand that you will need cover correctly tailored to meet your individual needs.

How our customers rate us

Since partnering with Alan Boswell Group over ten years ago, we have received excellent account management with a proactive approach using intuitive knowledge of our business.

Louise Nevard - Head of Credit, Midwich Group PLC.

4.9/5 1420 reviews

Credit insurance in detail

Credit insurance protects your business from financial loss incurred through a customer’s non-payment or insolvency. It can also cover disputed debts and losses caused by political events around the world.

Credit insurance is available across all trade sectors and typically pays out 90% of lost revenue, provided you hold an insured limit from the underwriter. Options are available to cover one customer, all your customers, or any multiple in-between.

Lost revenue

Typically pays out 90% of lost revenue, provided you hold an insured limit from the underwriter.

Transfer risk

Transfers the risk in your trade debtors to an insurer.

Trade types

Credit insurance is available across all trade sectors.

Single or multi-use

Options available to cover one customer, multiple customers, and all customers.

Why use credit insurance?

Credit insurance helps add discipline, structure, and control to your credit management process. Here are some of the key benefits of having credit insurance in place:

Exporting

Your export customer’s financial strength may be difficult to ascertain and fully understand, making credit assessment difficult. Whereas credit insurers hold huge databases of this information for risk assessment purposes.

Working capital

You may use an overdraft to buy in goods before supplying them to your customers. If the customer doesn’t pay, the lost revenue may affect your future working capital and your ability to pay your suppliers.

Growth

Often means accepting more risk by offering higher credit limits to customers whose financial strength you may not fully understand.

Cash on delivery

Insist on upfront payment and you may lose the customer by not offering credit terms. Credit insurance can help you work out which customers you can safely offer credit and how much, helping your business grow with less risk.

Credit reports

While you can rely on these from the likes of D&B, this type of information is often based on out of date financial information. Credit insurers have access to real time information to make fully informed decisions for you.

Risk assessment

Assessing a customer’s balance sheet and profit & loss account to make a credit limit decision is a specialist skill which is done for you with a credit insurance policy.

Download the latest version of our credit insurance leaflet.

Credit insurance leaflet

Credit insurance from Atradius