Trade Treasury Payments (TTP) and the International Credit Insurance & Surety Association (ICISA) are excited to announce the launch of our newest guide to trade credit insurance.
We created this guide to offer a beginner-friendly foundation that will hopefully help those in the space to better understand the essential concepts, mechanics, and roles that shape the trade credit insurance market.
Richard Wulff, Executive Director at ICISA, said, “Nearly every business that trades on credit depends, directly or indirectly, on the protections that trade credit insurance provides. Many professionals encounter this discipline early in their careers without ever receiving a clear, structured introduction to what it is, how it works, and why it matters. This guide was created to fill that gap.”
The chapters introduce the core purpose of trade credit insurance, outline the stakeholders involved, and explain how the product fits within the trade ecosystem as a tool for managing risk, supporting access to finance, and enabling trade.
The guide includes a breakdown of the different types of coverages, from short-term domestic and export policies to the distinctions between commercial and political risks. It also walks through the main policy structures used across the industry, such as whole turnover cover, proportional arrangements, excess of loss protection, and selected risk policies.
And it explains credit management and underwriting and explores how claims and recoveries work by explaining what happens when a buyer fails to pay, what steps policyholders must take, and how claims progress from notification through to indemnification.
Taken together, these elements provide what we hope to be a well-rounded introduction to the lifecycle of trade credit insurance. But this guide is only a starting point. It is designed to give emerging practitioners and those taking their first steps into the market a clear grounding so they can engage more fully with their credit insurer, broker, or internal teams, and so they can build upon this knowledge with more advanced materials when ready.
Deepesh Patel, Managing Director at TTP, said, “We’re delighted to launch this guide in partnership with ICISA, which is only a starting point. It is designed to give emerging practitioners and those taking their first steps into the market a clear grounding so they can engage more fully with their credit insurer, broker, or internal teams, and so they can build upon this knowledge with more advanced materials when ready.”
If, after reading this, you feel able to ask better questions, take a more active role in credit management, or see the link between risk protection and business growth, then we have achieved our purpose.
