FAQs

With export credit insurance, you can largely eliminate (often long-term) payment risks on foreign buyers or borrowers. This is attractive to exporters, and to banks. For them, export credit insurance often makes it possible to extend long export credits to foreign buyers. Thus, exporters receive the full contract price no later than delivery, while buyers of Dutch exports can repay on credit.

A transaction is eligible for export credit insurance if the following criteria are met:

a Dutch exporter or service provider is involved;
at least 20% of the total contract price of the Dutch exporter is Dutch;
it involves exporting capital goods or related services, or contracting abroad;
the transaction has not yet taken place;
it concerns a risk that cannot be placed with a private credit insurer.

If you are unsure about any of the criteria or have questions about them, please feel free to call one of our staff members.

The country policy sets the conditions within which the export transaction is insurable. For each country, the relevant country policy can be found via the overview page (see country link). For many countries there are no general restrictions for acceptance. For weaker countries we often require a guarantee from a (local) bank or the (local) government as a condition for coverage.

The percentage covered in export credit insurance determines what percentage of each insured claim we pay out. This is usually 98% for political causes of loss and 95% for commercial causes of loss. Thus, export credit insurance covers by far the majority of the payment risk. In specific cases, the covered percentage may differ. For example, in project finance and Asset Based Finance, the covered percentage is often lower.

Atradius insures credit offered by exporters or banks to the exporters' buyers. Atradius does not extend credit or loans itself. The bank that finances the buyer can obtain insurance from Atradius for that purpose. It is important that the exporter and/or the bank contact Atradius at an early stage (already during the contract negotiations).

As an initial, rough indication, the following rule of thumb applies: a maximum of 85% of the contract price can be offered as credit (80% for ships). Example:

Purchase price:100

Loan:85

Buyer pays cash: 15

In appropriate cases, this percentage may be different, for example in project financing.

If the exporter in the transaction incurs costs in the buyer's country, these local costs should generally not exceed 30% of the non-local (i.e. export) portion of your transaction.

In practice, the nature of the goods or services and the size of the transactions determine the maximum repayment period. Many transactions typically have a term of up to five years. In appropriate cases, this period may be longer if it is customary in the industry in which the exporter operates and the contract amount justifies it.

OECD member countries (including the Netherlands) have made agreements on maximum permitted terms. For buyers in OECD countries this maximum is usually eight and a half years, for other countries ten years (always with equal semi-annual repayments).

However, in the case of ship financing, project financing or renewable energy projects, other and longer repayment schedules may sometimes be allowed. Please contact Atradius for this.

Applying for export credit insurance does not cost anything. Only when the export contract and any associated loan take effect is a premium due. The premium is determined based on the severity of the risk to be insured, including the buyer's country, the buyer's financial position, the duration of the credit and any collateral. Click here.

The processing of an application takes an average of four to six weeks. It is important that you provide the necessary (financial) information about your customer. If this takes time, the application processing will also take longer.

Project financing is a specific form of financing: there is no company or government with a long-standing credit history to guarantee repayment of the loan. A project financing is repaid from the cash flow, which has to be generated by the (yet to be built) project itself. More information on project financing can be found on our web page.

Frequently Asked Questions