How long does it take to pay a claim?

How long does it take to pay a claim

How long does it take to pay a claim?

We’ll be able to examine your claim and notify you of the claim amount to be paid within 30 days, providing you’ve supplied us with all the documentation required. Providing these documents upfront, at the time you lodge your claim, can speed up this process. Here’s a list of what we need and why:

 

Documentation Why
Invoices relating to your claim
  • To identify the policy holder and the buyer
  • To confirm the terms of payment because each policy has a maximum credit term
  • To see the product or service sold to determine if it’s covered by the policy
Evidence of payment terms (if is it not showing on the commercial invoices) If payment terms are not indicated on the policy holders invoice, then this usually appears on a credit application or in correspondence between the policy holder and the buyer
Statement of accounts for 6 - 12 months prior to the oldest outstanding invoice through to and including final statement
  • In Excel provide a system derived debtors ledger that includes individual transactions raised during this period with invoice dates, amounts, payments and credit notes. This allows us to do a reconciliation to determine if the maximum extension period has been breached which could mean an automatic stoppage on cover.
Evidence of debt
  • Evidence of the debt from a party other than the policy holder needs to be provided so we can confirm that debt is owing on the policy. For example evidence from a buyer, court or insolvency practitioner will be accepted.
All correspondence between the policyholder and the debtor, or other interested parties
  • Providing all correspondence in relation to the matter starting from the oldest invoice up to the date of claim can help support the efforts you’ve made to collect the money owed to you 
Any securities, retention of title, caveats or guarantees
  • Providing details of the stock in the buyer’s possession and actions you’ve taken to minimise loss can help us understand any potential recoveries either before or post payment of a claim.

    If we can recover money post paying your claim by pursuing a guarantor or recovering stock through a retention of title then you’ll gain a share of this in proportion to the loss.  
Discretionary credit limit documentation
  • On your policy it will outline your discretionary credit limit procedure. This will let you know what documentation needs to be provided, it can include things like payment experience over the last 12 months within the maximum extension period, credit reports, trade references and compliance with credit management procedures
Declaration of turnover
  • Most of the time you’ll need to complete an annual declaration of turnover for each policy, usually every 12 months. Before we can pay a claim this needs to be up to date.

For export claims only:

Delivery/bill of lading documentation & debt correspondence 
  • To determine that goods have left the country
  • To see evidence of the total debt owed and that it’s not subject to any dispute

 

Related content

What is credit risk?

Credit risk is associated with a borrower failing to repay a loan.

What is trade credit insurance

Trade credit insurance protects your business from bad debts.

How much does trade credit insurance cost?

The cost of trade credit insurance is calculated as a percentage of your turnover combined with the level of risk.

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Disclaimer

The statements made herein are provided solely for general informational purposes and should not be relied upon for any purpose. Please refer to the actual policy or the relevant product or services agreement for the governing terms. Nothing herein should be construed to create any right, obligation, advice or responsibility on the part of Atradius, including any obligation to conduct due diligence of buyers or on your behalf. If Atradius does conduct due diligence on any buyer it is for its own underwriting purposes and not for the benefit of the insured or any other person. Additionally, in no event shall Atradius and its related, affiliated and subsidiary companies be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use of the statements made information herein.