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Short-term Trade Credit Insurance - obligations

Issue date:

For our policy holders of our short term trade credit insurance, we have summarised the obligations which may be helpful to you.  It includes being aware of what to do in the event you:

  • amend the terms of your sales contract;
  • receive adverse information on your buyer;
  • experience payment delays; or
  • need to lodge claim.

 

Did you (the “Supplier”) know as a NZEC short-term trade credit policy holder;

  • You are required to notify and obtain our written agreement before changing any terms of your export contract or related documents, including amending or postponing any due date for payment.
  • It’s also important that you immediately notify us of any changes in the details provided in the ‘Notice of Export Contract’ (this Notice includes the details of each ‘shipment’ which you send to us).
  • Any Shipments exceeding the Maximum Credit Amount are not covered by the Policy.
  • If you experience delayed payments from a buyer, you must notify us within 30 days (NB: this timeframe may vary by policy).
  • We may suspend cover on all future shipments, if your Buyer has not paid a due debt within 30 days from due date.

 

If you receive adverse information or experience payment delays, there are a few things you need to be aware of;

  • If you become aware of circumstances that may result in a claim, you must notify us immediately.
  • You are required to take all reasonable and appropriate measures to avoid or minimise any losses.  For example:
    • if you are aware the buyer may not be able to pay you on time then you must not continue to send goods, provide services or transfer possession of goods already forwarded to your Buyer.
  • If performance under your export contract is disputed or not achievable, you must also inform us.  As a condition of our cover, we are likely to require you to engage in arbitration or negotiations to resolve the dispute, or to go through legal channels to obtain a judgment in your favour.  

 

What happens if you need to make a claim?

  • To make a claim you must provide us with a ‘Request for Settlement of Claim’
  • Both before and after a Claim has been accepted you must take all steps necessary to secure and collect amounts due to you under your Export Contract.  For example, taking steps:
    • necessary to enforce and/or recover any securities or guarantees that secure the outstanding payments;
    • to register and provide your debt or loss.
  • You must keep us informed of the steps being taken to recover your amounts, and we may be able to provide advice and support to you.
  • If we agree in writing to you incurring ‘Costs of Collection’, we shall reimburse you for the proportion of those ‘Costs of Collection’ equal to the percentage of the total loss to be paid by NZEC.   
  • A successful Claim will be paid within 30 days after receipt of all required information supporting the claim
  • It is important to highlight however that we may not be liable to make any payment under our policy if the claim relates to a loss due to:
    • the insolvency, error or negligence on the part of you, your collecting bank, sub-suppliers, agents or any other person employed by you or acting on your behalf, or
    • you failing to duly perform and observe each and every stipulation contained in the Policy and in the Application Form, or
    • any information material to the Policy which has been provided by or certified by you to NZEC, which is subsequently being found to be incorrect or misleading in any material respect.
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