Airmic Academy addresses value of trade credit insurance

Published on Wed, 11/08/2021 - 11:25

Trade credit insurance has been an invaluable tool for many businesses during the pandemic and economic shutdowns of the past 18 months, and an Airmic Academy webinar has explained how it has been used to date and the appetite of insurers to take on the risk.

The Academy session was presented in July by Richard Talboys, head of trade credit GB, and Rob Bolton, executive director, both at Willis Towers Watson.

The webinar talked members through assessing trade credit risk, provided an overview of the trade credit insurance product and explained how supply chains have been maintained throughout the COVID pandemic.

“The most obvious impact of COVID was lockdown and the forced closure of businesses which impacted supplies across all industries and cash flow of many companies,” said Rob Bolton.

“It also had the effect of freezing various markets and our’s was one of those as insurers battened down the hatches and awaited the well reported tsunami of claims. Insurers had already been reviewing their portfolios prior to COVID following several large-scale insolvencies and with an expectant downturn on the horizon.”

Bolton and Richard Talboys also touched upon the UK and other government’s trade credit insurance schemes, which sought to add more capacity to the market and they explain how cover is still being maintained.

By the end of the session, Airmic members should have learned how organisations can use credit insurance to maintain cash flow, stay competitive and expand into new markets, help to collect invoices and understand the financial position of the organisation’s clients.

To view the full Academy on the Airmic website, click here.