EXIM's Multi-buyer Export Credit Insurance Policy has been championed as the most small-business friendly trade credit insurance on the market by the brokers and exporters alike. Many people like that the EXIM's Multi-buyer Export Credit Insurance underwriting process is transparent and straightforward.
EXIM underwrites thousands of these policies each year in order to protect small businesses in the event of a buyer default. In fact, EXIM insured approximately 110,000 shipments under these policies last year. Your policy provides valuable protection when some invoices go unpaid and you have to file a claim with EXIM.
Unfortunately, some claims are denied because the insurance policyholder fails to do something required under the policy. We want to help you avoid these mistakes. Here are four common reasons that Multi-Buyer insurance claims are not paid:
- Late Claim Filings – In order to be paid in full under the policy, you must file your claim on time. We must receive your proof of loss (i.e., your claim form) within 240 days from the date that the invoice is overdue (See Article 8, Proof and Payment of Claims). And remember – you can file your claim on-line.
- Lack of Proof of Export – You must have shipping documents that show the items you sold were shipped outside of the United States (and its territories) – or you must abide by the terms of an endorsement permitting you to ship to a location in the United States (See Article 3.C.(2) and Article 11.C).
- Violating Discretionary Credit Limits – Whether you are using “credit DCL” or “ledger DCL”, you must make sure that you have met all of the requirements to use your DCL authority (See your Discretionary Credit Limit Endorsement).
- Failure to Stop Shipping – Both your policy and your Discretionary Credit Limit Endorsement require you, in certain situations, to stop shipping to buyers who are overdue on their payment (See Article 6.B and your Discretionary Credit Limit Endorsement).
Please remember, you must read and understand your entire policy – and especially the endorsements. The mistakes listed above are just a few of the items that may cause denials of your claim. In order to get your claim paid, there also are other conditions in the policy that must be satisfied.
When in doubt, contact your broker or your EXIM relationship manager for assistance. Our goal is to help you file complete and correctly documented claims so we can pay them quickly.
