Are you a first time exporter and want to enter a new market? The New Zealand Export Credit (NZEC) team may be able to help you with our new streamlined approach to Crown-backed Trade Credit Insurance. Our support is provided where the private-sector insurers are unable to provide cover. NZEC coverage complements what the private sector can offer.
Small to medium enterprise (SME) exporters and their suppliers are at the core of the New Zealand economy and are the main group that NZEC supports. In the wake of Covid-19 it was evident that these businesses were being particularly impacted, so we have made some changes to help our smaller exporters.
In response to market feedback, we have streamlined our Trade Credit Insurance product to provide a simpler process for all exporters. This will particularly benefit SMEs that are exporting for the first time, entering a new market, establishing a new buyer relationship, or maintaining or growing sales to an existing buyer and are unable to obtain cover from the private sector. Trade Credit Insurance ultimately protects your business from bad debts and covers your losses if a buyer doesn't pay you.
NZEC can now approve cover up to NZD 500,000 without receiving a buyer’s financials, and where there is a trading history of less than two years. In lieu of receiving financials, NZEC will rely on receipt of a satisfactory credit report. To further support the growth of our SME exporters, NZEC has waived the application fee for Trade Credit Insurance for exporters with a turnover of less than NZD 30m.
Acting Head of Export Credit Peter Rowe says that this change is particularly targeted to supporting SME’s.
“With our help, a smaller exporter can grow their sales to a point where it is viable for the private insurers to step in and replace our support,” says Peter.
These changes are designed to support New Zealand’s economic recovery and enable exporters to diversify into new markets with the confidence that that they are protected if things turn out worse than expected. In the long term, these changes provide confidence to this important sector, and creates the possibility of a new buyer relationship to be established with less criteria for an exporter to meet.
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