Trade credit insurance: Your protection against unpaid invoices

Trade credit insurance is a solution that protects companies against the risk of unpaid customer debt, late invoice payment and customer insolvency.

In cases of non-payment, Coface provides compensation, acting as a safety net to mitigate the financial impact. This insurance serves as a safeguard against non-payment for businesses.

Business credit insurance offers 3 vital services to help you avoid the risk of customer non-payment:

•Check: Prevention of unpaid debts including monitoring your debtors;

•Collect: Collection management to efficiently handle outstanding debts

•Protect: Most importantly – indemnification in the event of non-payment

Credit insurance provides you with the confidence to pursue new opportunities without the constant concern of customer defaults. Additionally, it enhances your ability to secure new financing, as banks often find reassurance in businesses equipped with credit insurance.

Collecting or managing overdue receivables becomes a thing of the past – guaranteed. When you are covered by trade credit insurance, the only risk of not being paid is if your customer challenges the conformity of the delivery (or the service provided).

Yes: a credit insurance contract is a guarantee against the non-payment or the insolvency of your monitored customers for all undisputed invoices. The information provided by the credit insurer serves to deter potential bad debtors and helps in managing risks associated with monitored buyers.

You initiate the process by requesting a guarantee (credit limit) for your customers through our online CofaNet platform. Once we've granted the guarantee, you can conduct your sales with confidence, without direct intervention from Coface. 

In the unfortunate event of non-payment, you provide the information to CofaNet, and we immediately take over the collection process, whether it's in Belgium, Luxembourg, or anywhere in the world.

If these collection efforts prove unsuccessful within the agreed timeframe, we provide compensatory indemnity. All of these operations are conveniently managed online. It is that simple.

For small businesses with a maximum turnover of €7.5 million, the EasyLiner solution is tailored to your needs. It offers a straightforward credit insurance contract at an all-inclusive annual price starting at €2,500.

Supplier credit insurance is known by various names, including business credit insurance, trade credit insurance, customer credit insurance, credit risk insurance, bad debt insurance, or simply credit insurance. Regardless of the name, this type of contract protects you against the risk of non-payment. It is a customer non-payment insurance for businesses.

Export credit insurance is another term used to describe trade credit insurance, with a specific focus on covering your export credit. Coface has a direct presence in over 100 countries and provides coverage to more than 195 countries globally, positioning us as an ideal partner for export credit insurance. 

If your client is refusing to settle an invoice and is claiming a commercial dispute to avoid payment, our credit insurance contract includes provisions to address this situation. 

If the dispute is found to be genuine and bona fide, we will temporarily suspend our collection process. This allows you to work with your customer to resolve the dispute within the context of your customer-supplier relationship. 

Once the dispute has been successfully resolved, the guarantee is reactivated, and the invoice can be indemnified if your customer is still unable to settle it. This ensures a fair and transparent resolution process.