Trade Credit Insurance for Australian Builders and Suppliers

Trade Credit insurance protects your business from bad debts — the losses you take when a customer fails to pay an invoice because of insolvency, protracted default, or political risk. For builders, subcontractors, and construction-sector suppliers selling on credit terms, Trade Credit is the cover that stops a single customer failure from sinking your cash flow.

Silverback Insurance Brokers places Trade Credit programmes for construction-industry clients across Australia — head contractors extending credit to principals, subcontractors carrying receivables on progress claims, and materials suppliers selling on 30/60/90-day terms.

What Trade Credit Insurance Covers

• Insolvency of a customer — liquidation, administration, bankruptcy
• Protracted default — non-payment beyond the agreed maximum extension period
• Political risk (export trade) — war, expropriation, currency inconvertibility on overseas customers
• Bad debt recovery support — collections and legal action coordinated through the insurer
• Credit limit underwriting — the insurer assesses each buyer and sets a covered limit per customer

Why Construction Businesses Need It

• Concentrated receivables — one large principal or developer often represents 40%+ of revenue
• Builder insolvency trend — Australian residential and commercial builder failures have risen sharply since 2022
• Subcontractor exposure to head contractors — retention, progress claims, and unapproved variations all sit on your balance sheet
• Growth funding — insured receivables are often accepted as better collateral by lenders
• Market intelligence — credit insurers share buyer financial health data you won’t get elsewhere

How a Trade Credit Policy Works

• Whole-of-turnover cover — annual policy covers all your credit customers, usually with a self-insured retention per loss
• Specific account / single-buyer cover — cover just one large receivable exposure, typically for a major project
• Excess-of-loss wording — high deductibles that only respond to catastrophic losses, cheaper premium
• Limit monitoring — insurer reviews credit limits regularly; you can’t cover what isn’t approved
• Claim notification — typically within 60 days of default; prompt notification is a claim condition

Why Silverback for Trade Credit?

• Construction focus — we understand how progress claims, retention, and principal risk flow
• Specialist markets — Atradius, Coface, Allianz Trade, QBE Trade Credit, Bond&Credit Co, Tokio Marine
• Buyer-limit advocacy — we push the underwriter when a customer limit is cut and needs defending
• Claims support — we coordinate the collection, notification, and claim documentation end-to-end

Request a quote for Trade Credit insurance — or call us on 0410 152 835 to discuss protecting your receivables.