Trade Credit Insurance

Help protect your business against most potential misfortunes of your customers

If you trade or sell goods on a credit basis, you’re at risk of bad debt or non-payment by customers. This can disrupt your cashflow and leave you out of pocket.

What do you need to know?

Who should consider it?

All registered businesses that sell goods and services on credit terms, such as
30 days to pay, should consider trade credit insurance. This includes businesses that trade domestically and internationally.

Some trade credit insurance policies also offer the bonus of working with designated collection agencies to help you recover your debts – taking the pressure off this difficult and time-consuming process.
What can it cover?

Depending on the policy, trade credit insurance can be either:
- Comprehensive cover: Protecting your entire credit portfolio, including domestic and export customers
- Excess of loss: Suitable for businesses with strong internal credit management processes who want cover for exceptional loss across their entire portfolio
What isn't covered

There are exclusions. There is also often a deductible or excess and limits on cover, so check with your Steadfast insurance broker.

Find a Steadfast Broker

Get the right advice at the right price and have a local Steadfast broker on your team.

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Case Study

Non-payment is a serious threat to small businesses

Winemaker avoids further lending

As a small winemaker who has been exporting overseas for five years, Debra faces two challenges. Like other winemakers, she has a long working capital cycle. Secondly, there’s the risk of non-payment, especially among new export clients.

Debra only exports small shipments and takes out comprehensive trade credit insurance. This strategy pays off, as she sends a shipment to a new client who doesn’t pay. After unsuccessful attempts at getting the payment, Debra makes a successful claim on her trade credit insurance.

The insurance payout covers her loss, which fills the gap that the non-payment made in her cash flow. This means she doesn’t have to borrow money to keep her business going.