Oval Trade Credit

Insurance that protects your cash flow and offsets bad debt

Insight. Service. Performance.

Specialist risk and insurance solutions for bad debt and cash flow protection

Cash flow. Of all the business pressures you face, liquidity and ever-lengthening credit cycles are the ones guaranteed to keep you awake at night. Nor do the national statistics make happy reading. Nearly half of all small businesses in the UK see cash flow as one of their top concerns.1 Today, around one million small firms are owed overdue payments totalling £36.4 billion, having to wait an average of nearly 40 days beyond agreed terms2. Since 2011, the average debt owed to individual SMEs has jumped from £27,000 to £36,0003 – and just over 21,000 businesses failed in 2011, 1.1 per cent of the UK’s total businesses.4 Disaster can strike virtually overnight and the economic uncertainties we have all experienced seen since 2008 only serve to underline how quickly financial fragility can create dangerous vulnerability.

Trade credit insurance is all about mitigating the unexpected and potentially disastrous hits that come with creditor bad debt, protecting your balance sheet against your customers going under owing you money. That’s why it pays to work with a specialist trade credit insurance broking partner with access to all the leading credit insurers and covers that work in harmony with your business.

While credit risk is an everyday part of your business: credit risk is our business. Oval Insurance Broking (Oval) is one of the UK’s leading trade credit insurance brokers. Our team of trade credit insurance specialists provide the highest standard of advice, supported by attentive and effective service that ensures the trade credit insurance we specify for you does exactly what it’s supposed to – when you need it. Our service commitment drives insight, empathy and innovation to ensure your trade credit insurance protection is simple, competitive, efficient and cost effective. It also provides you with on-demand expertise from people who take the time to understand your business and your processes – then translate that knowledge into specialist insurance solutions that protect your cash flow.

We work with the leading specialist insurers, offering bespoke trade credit insurance policies that close the gaps others may miss. This proven practical and intellectual

expertise has made us the insurance partner of choice for businesses nationwide – with the know-how to service UK and international trade credit insurance programmes.

Welcome to Oval Trade Credit: trade credit insurance solutions that optimise liquidity

Regardless of the business you’re in, you’re in it to trade and make money – not suffer the toxic stresses that the threat of bad debt, default and insolvency can place on your firm. Cash flow is a fragile pact based on mutual trust and confidence. Should it be undermined, it’s good to know you can turn to a specialist insurance partner who understands the financial protections you need.

Spanning the full spectrum of trade credit applications, we’ll help you identify liabilities, cut costs, quantify risk and mitigate losses across the following areas:

• Workingcapitalandprofitabilityprotectionthatcutsyour loss exposure from insolvency or default

• Accesstounique,constantlyupdatedcreditorinformation that helps you plan risk exposure

• Activeassistancethatsupportsandcanhelpdriveyour credit risk management function

• Securitytofinancialinstitutionstohelpyounegotiatefinance facilities

• Accesstointegratedcollectionandrecoveryservicesfor improved loss control

1 SAGE Business Index Report 20112-3 Bacs Statistical Reporting, 2011/20124 Experian Insolvency Index, 2012

www.theovalgroup.com

Intelligent insurance solutions geared around your cash flow needsYou’ll find all the trade credit insurance solutions and services you need to help protect your business against the expected andtheunexpectedalike.Allunderasingleroofandwithasingle specialist team that speaks your language and blends the advisory, administration, technical and listening skills essential to delivering effective cash flow protection.

• A safe pair of specialist hands: a partner you can trust, backed by experience, commitment, national reach and a proven trade credit track record able to meet the exacting risk needs of your business

• Market momentum: a combination of size, attention to detail and demonstrable understanding of your industry and our clients means insurers trust us and are keen to work with us. We negotiate hard on your behalf, with a core focus on delivering performance solutions that you can rely on at the moment of truth

• Entrepreneurial attitude: working with the leading specialist insurers, we proactively develop bespoke covers and policies that address the emerging risks you face – for instance trade disruption or low credit availability

• Partnership approach: a total commitment to understanding your business sits behind our long-standing client relationships and market-leading retention rates

• Fast, expert problem solving: we’re proud of our reputation and we are committed to providing a quick response that makes the most of our cumulative risk and insurance expertise

• Competitively priced quotes, services and deals: our lean business model keeps our structure flat and overheads down, enabling us to pass premium savings directly onto you

• Expert claims handling: we don’t outsource claims handling – that’s why you’ll always receive a prompt, no-hassle service from our expert, in-house and UK-based claims handlers

Insight. Service. Performance.Oval is at the forefront of trade credit insurance solutions, helping drive best practice and innovation that provides you with:

• Riskandcreditmanagementthatsmoothesouttheeffects of bad debts

• Balancesheetprotectionandgreatercertainty• Enhancedsalesopportunitiesbyidentifyingcreditworthy

buyers at home and abroad• Pre-legal/legalcollectionssupportwhenthingsstartto

go wrong

Specialist trade credit insurance solutions including:

• Whole turnover: we tailor solutions to your specific risk analysis, control and transfer needs

• Catastrophe cover: protects high turnover firms against exceptionally high levels of bad debt losses

• Pre-delivery or pre-credit risk: provides cover for manufacturing or service costs incurred prior to delivery

• Specific/selective account cover: ideal for business-critical exposures to single or selective customers

• Top-up cover: enables you to add credit limits through additional excess layer cover

• Political risk: protects you from trade or investment disruption overseas caused by political upheaval

• Bonds/guarantees: provides third-party guarantees against any loss or damage through contractual breach

• Factoring/invoice discounting: enables you to receive an initial amount of your outstanding invoices upfront

So if you’d like to beef up your cash flow defences and your creditor protection, then contact us for a no-commitment trade credit insurance review. When it comes to increasing certainty for your business, we’re all you need to know.

Oval Insurance Broking LimitedRegistered Office: 9 South Parade,Wakefield, WF1 1LR

Registered in England No: 01195184AuthorisedandregulatedbytheFinancialServicesAuthority.

www.theovalgroup.com

Insight. Service. Performance.

About The Oval groupThe Oval group is a leading UK risk, insurance broking, healthcare and financial services advisory group.

With offices across the UK, Oval Insurance Broking (Oval) is the specialist risk management partner of choice for thousands of businesses and individuals across a range of disciplines and industry sectors.

From general insurance to sector-specific requirements, Oval’s strength lies in designing bespoke, dynamic and keenly competitive risk solutions that fit your needs exactly. Our skilled specialists take the time to understand those needs, simplifying risk to deliver a consistently innovative, high standard and high performance service, that adds value, capability, agility and a competitive edge to your business.

For more information, visit us at www.theovalgroup.com

Would you like to talk?If you have any questions or would like to explore how you can make your insurance work harder for your organisation, we’re here to help.

Jonathan Smith, Divisional Director (Birmingham)Telephone: 0121 237 1760 Mobile: 07715 497 141Email: jonathan.smith@theovalgroup.com

Viviane Gifford (London)Telephone: 01628 440 697 Mobile: 07748 657 729Email: viviane.gifford@theovalgroup.com