Your needs
Currently, growth is difficult to achieve, unpaid debts are on the rise (40% of invoiced amounts in Europe, according to the 2016 Atradius payment practices barometer) and defaults are expected to surge. With all these risk factors, it is crucial to maintain a careful focus on securing your receivables. In today’s world, credit insurance is clearly associated with best management practices by all your financial partners.
Solutions geared to your needs
Credit insurance helps you at three levels:
« We are now in an ongoing process to enhance and optimise our contractual clauses, in which A.U. Group’s support constitutes a real competitive advantage »
Comprehensive credit insurance
Comprehensive credit insurance remains the most popular product because it provides the maximum support and security to the business.
All your customers are financially assessed and monitored by the insurer’s risk department.
You maintain the responsibility to recover your receivables until the agreed deadline for advising the insurer after which date the insurer takes over the collection.
This solution also helps to optimise your short-term bank or factoring financing.
Scope of activity: worldwide.
Excess credit insurance
Excess credit insurance (also called “Excess of Loss”) is often suitable for companies that have sophisticated credit management capabilities. This solution combines the policyholder’s credit management expertise with an insurer’s review of the largest buyers. Usually there is a fixed Limit of Liability in excess of a significant aggregate deductible. A flat premium is charged on the amount of Liability purchased. The credit manager determines (either independently or in consultation with the insurer) the credit limits to be granted to customers. Limits are non-cancellable.
This solution helps guard against the consequences of higher than average cumulative default risk. It is also possible to provide insurance for a specific list of customers.
Scope of activity: OCDE.
Solutions geared to your needs
All structured trade receivables insurance and financing solutions may, depending on your needs, constraints and market opportunities, be combined with other products to offer a customised solution to meet your specific requirements.
For example, we can:
- Design co-insurance solutions.
- Offer additional Top Up insurance to increase the amount of your cover.
- Find the capacity to provide single-buyer or single-risk cover for major, one-off operations.
- Set up medium-term cover in the framework of multi-year business projects.
- Structure credit insurance programs in the framework of captives.
- Increase and diversify your financing sources by setting up solutions for optimising cash flow based on trade receivables.
- Select and assist you in choosing software solutions for managing trade receivables.
We have great experience and extensive knowledge of service providers both in France and worldwide, enabling us to find the right solution wherever you need it.
Our vision and added value as a broker
A.U. Group works in partnership with the main finance and insurance providers to bring you tailored bond solutions, for commitment periods ranging from a few months to five years.
A.U. Group’s acknowledged experience since 1929 enables us to give you an objective view of each type of bond offered by the market and to provide you with overall solutions with no impact on your cash flow but which free up financing capacity with your banking partners, directly or through risk-sharing agreements or syndication.
Bonds and financial cover
A bond is a financial commitment issued by an insurer or bank on behalf of a second party, guaranteeing that the second party will fulfill an obligation.
These bonds are essential in some trading or market activity.
The new Basel regulations require banks to comply with tougher accounting rules concerning (in particular) capital adequacy ratios and the accumulation of bank commitments and/or issued credit risk.
These constraints have a direct impact on the granting of credit lines to companies and in particular on the granting of bonds.
Solutions tailored to your needs
- Performance bonds
- Construction bonds (for single-occupancy housing projects)
- Environmental bonds (for environmentally protected sites)
- Custom bonds
- Food and grower bonds
- Excise bonds – wines and spirits
- Tax bonds
- All other types of surety bonds indispensable for the smooth running of your business
A Tried and Tested methodology
Our methodology consists of three key stages that enable us to build sustainable, customized solutions.
1 – ANALYSE AND REPORT BACK
The analysis stage consists in gathering key information regarding your business and trade sector and identifying the credit risks within your group.
The report back stage contains an audit of the credit risks and insurance solutions in place.
In particular, our process uses tried and tested management tools to capture both economic information and the terms and conditions of the policy.
2 – PROGRAMME DESIGN AND PLACEMENT
Key to this stage is defining your needs, enabling us to gain a detailed understanding of your priorities, constraints, quantitative and qualitative objectives.
Once your needs have been identified, we design and propose a suitable structure for your consideration. We then broke your risk to the market and negotiate the best offers with insurers.
3 – ONGOING SUPPORT
In addition to helping you chose the best solution, AU Group’s role is to support you in the operational implementation of your policy.
Our dedicated management teams work day-to-day to optimise your cover and policy terms.
AU Group commits the means and resources to assist you day in, day out, in managing your policy and protecting your receivables’ interest.