Category: Credit Insurance

Trade credit insurance offers a level of certainty in an uncertain economic climate

With UK insolvencies rising and ongoing uncertainty in parts of the economy, increasing numbers of businesses are taking out trade credit insurance to protect themselves against the risks associated with selling goods and services on credit.

It’s an area that TL Dallas is an expert in, and we’re currently supplying trade credit insurance to clients across all industries, but what is trade credit insurance, and how can it benefit your business?

Here’s everything you need to know about trade credit insurance….

Trade credit insurance protects businesses that sell goods or services on credit terms, from the risk of non-payment by their customers, or if invoices aren’t paid within the agreed payment terms.

When a business purchases trade credit insurance, the insurance provider will typically perform a credit assessment of the company’s customers to determine their creditworthiness. If a customer defaults on a payment, the insurance provider will pay out an agreed percentage of the amount owed to the business.

Key benefits of trade credit insurance include:

1. Protection against bad debt – with trade credit insurance in place, businesses can protect themselves against the risk of non-payment by customers, reducing the impact of bad debt on their cash flow.

2. Increased confidence – by being protected against bad debt, businesses can be more confident extending credit terms to their customers, which can lead to increased sales and revenue.

3. Improved access to finance – certain lenders may be more willing to provide finance to businesses that have trade credit insurance in place, as it provides an additional layer of security for their cashflow.

4. Assistance with debt collection – some products provide additional coverage for legal fees and other costs associated with debt collection if a customer fails to pay.

5. Supporting expansion – in some instances expanding into new markets or territories can be risky, but trade credit insurance helps to mitigates this.

6. Additional financial protection – certain insurers offer credit analysis and risk assessment services as part of their coverage, which can help businesses to make more informed decisions about which customers to extend credit to and at what terms.

7. Bespoke products – our trade credit insurance policies can be tailored for all types of business, from regional SMEs to large corporates that are trading globally.

To find out more about trade credit insurance and how it can protect your business against the financial impact of non-payment, contact TL Dallas:

01274 465 500 creditbfd@tldallas.com

01324 717 466 creditdept@tldallas.com

Our Credit Insurance team welcome new members

Bringing a total of 30 years’ experience to the company, Jonathan Grant and Sandie Cater-Wright join our Credit Insurance team in Bradford’s headquarters. The appointments follow a period of growth we’ve seen in this division, which is expected to continue into 2022.

Joining from Bibby as a Trade Credit Account Handler, Sandie brings extensive experience working in banking and insurance roles and will support our Account Executives locally. Jonathan  joined the team as an Account Executive, having previously worked on a number of large portfolio clients at Aon.

The appointments continue the positive momentum for our company, following the launch of Dallas Wilding Drew, the company’s first North Yorkshire office, in Settle earlier this year, and Dallas Scott Davey Ltd more recently in Lincolnshire.

Jonathan Smith, Strategic Director of Trade Credit and Surety at TL Dallas, said: “After witnessing significant income growth across the company, we’re delighted to welcome Sandie and Jonathan to the Trade Credit division.

“Their expertise and approach will be significant assets to the TL Dallas offering and will help us to further support clients ranging from SMEs to large corporates. In the current climate it is more important than ever for companies to protect their Balance Sheet and Trade Credit insurance assists with this through both insurance and good debtor management ”

Simon Hyde, Director of Trade Credit and Surety, added: “After celebrating our centenary in 2019, TL Dallas continues to go from strength to strength, cementing our position as a top ten specialist broker in the market, and one of the leading independents nationally.

“We expect this period of growth to continue well into next year and are currently on the look-out for further new team members who will help us to maintain our excellent reputation.”

If you’re looking for Trade Credit support or are interested in hearing about available roles at TL Dallas, please get in touch: info@tldallas.com.

 

The real value provided by credit insurance

New unsecured creditor figures illustrate the value of trade credit insurance.

New research by InfolinkGazette has indicated that the recent failures of Pretty Green Limited, Freemont Ltd, British Midland Regional Limited (t/a Flybmi), Better Bathrooms, Ubercasual Limited (t/a Jack & Jones), Blenheim Homes North East Limited, El Ganso (Acturus Retail (UK) Ltd), and Boing Zone Limited have left at least 866 unsecured creditors owed approximately £32.3 million.

In Pretty Green’s case, they were themselves an unsecured trade creditor of House of Fraser and lost £522,000 when the store entered administration last year. Greg Connell, Managing Director of InfolinkGazette, commented:

Credit insurance cover isn’t always available, but when it is obtainable, can avert the disastrous consequences of becoming an unsecured creditor.

You can read InfolinkGazette’s analysis here.

An interesting perspective recently shared by Greg Connell, Managing Director of InfolinkGazette of what the real value of Credit Insurance can provide. With insolvency numbers and claims now mirroring those last seen in 2009 and all the Political uncertainty abounding with hard Brexit looking evermore likely, we believe things are going to become more difficult before they get better.

TL Dallas is a leading provider of insurance solutions to protect against insolvency or default exposures and if you would like to talk about specific needs, export related or otherwise, we would welcome the opportunity to talk to you further. Please email our Credit Insurance team on credit@tldallas.com.

Kier Group KIE share price lowest since the 1990’s

December 2018 signified a share price of 409p and yet June 2019 evidenced a crash all the way down to 161p. Is it a case of ‘Kitchen Sinking’? With a new Chief at the helm, Andrew Davies has signified the company’s falling profits, rising debt and higher costs in one swift move. Perhaps he is being more pragmatic in his findings since undertaking the role in March this year, coming in and seeing things in a harsher, realistic light. However, it’s not uncommon for a new boss to portray a dark picture soon after arriving, to then depict themselves as saviours to investors on the precarious path ahead.

Step back to December 2018 and the rights issue offered to investor’s on the understanding that by June 2019 the cash position would be c.£25m. In actual fact, there is a strong claim that the £265m cash raised must have been based on fundamentally wrong financial forecasts as instead there is now a net debt position of c.£56m to be expected.

Of note, there was an anticipated £250m increase in turnover for 2019 from the £4.5bn sales in 2018, yet uncontrollable issues outside of management’s control such as, a slowdown in construction, budget constraints on schools and hospitals have caused turnover to remain stagnant. This culminates with the issues relating to the restructuring costs increasing by £15m, yet there has been discussions this relates to an acceleration of the programme, albeit unavoidable one off costs.

FT advisor Mathew Vincent states, ‘It smells horribly like Carillion’. It cannot be ignored, that certain similarities are evidenced. However, the spread of risk is far less concentrated, whilst the business still remains profitable and there does seem to be a clear strategy being put in place by the new Chief to help cement the company’s market position. Carillion was profitable until the goodwill was omitted from the balance sheet. Moving aside from the accounting gimmickry, Kier has almost £800m goodwill on it’s balance sheet.

Trust with investors has been tarnished and will need to be rebuilt. It is almost unthinkable for the CEO to request a fresh rights issue given the current predicament coupled with the endless paroxysms encountered in the sector currently.

The strategy update in July will be Pivotal to hopefully rebuilding Trust with the market/shareholder’s whilst perhaps focusing more heavily on margin than turnover. Key future requirements of improving cash generation and reducing leverage should not be ignored.

 

TL Dallas is a leading provider of insurance solutions to protect against insolvency or default exposures. If you would like to talk about specific needs, we would welcome the opportunity to talk to you further. Please email our Credit Insurance team on credit@tldallas.com.

 

No deal no British Steel

No Deal No British Steel – What does Comet, Monarch Airlines and British Steel have in common..?

  • All acquired and owned by Greybull Capital
  • All went into administration to the detriment of the taxpayer

Greybull offered a mere £1m to save the company whilst requesting £75m from the Government which was subsequently reduced to £30m. There’s a culmination of problems facing the steel industry at the moment, with the value of sterling, coupled with European/US Trade Tariff’s causing uncertainty.

A Sector Deal along with taking steps on energy prices could have been reviewed. Redcar Steelworks was closed with the loss of 3100 jobs – the Government’s final statement on this being ‘Never again’.

In a positive swing, we wake up this morning to hear that 60 potential buyers have came forward, whilst a treasury backed indemnity has been put in place by the Government to keep the business afloat ensuring all staff will continue to be paid. Combined with Network Rail increasing their orders to help keep it trading, there may yet be light at the end of the tunnel, helping to save a potential 25,000 jobs throughout the supply chain.

 

TL Dallas is a leading provider of insurance solutions to protect against insolvency or default exposures. If you would like to talk about specific needs, we would welcome the opportunity to talk to you further. Please email our Credit Insurance team on credit@tldallas.com.

The importance of credit risk protection

 
This article recently published in Construction Enquirer highlights the impact that bad debts and insolvencies can have on suppliers.
 
Building services specialist, Proline Group, reported to be owed vast sums, have placed the business into administration – highlighting the need for credit risk protection.
 
Cash flow management is essential to keep businesses going. Late payments from your customers can impact your own ability to pay debts as they fall due.
 
In these ever uncertain times TL Dallas & Co can offer various solutions for credit risk protection. If you are interested in a no obligation review please get in touch to discuss your specific business needs. You can email our Credit Insurance team on credit@tldallas.com.

Trade credit insurers pay out a record £1 million a day to help UK firms stay afloat

Whatever you hear about Credit Insurance underwriters reducing risk exposure, the reality is that exposure has increased significantly over the last decade and the other side of this can be seen in the claims now being paid. An interesting article as this represents the collective experience which is the reality of what all in the industry are experiencing right now. Not a time for the feint hearted!

 

TL Dallas is a leading provider of insurance solutions to protect against insolvency or protracted default exposures. If you would like to discuss your specific business needs we would welcome the opportunity to see if we can help provide more certainty in these uncertain times. Please email our Credit Insurance team on credit@tldallas.com.