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COFACE POLICY ADMINISTRATION GUIDELINES
Coface guidelines are designed to provide additional information related to your insurance policy in a simplified way. Coface guidelines do not cancel or replace the terms or your insurance contract (including modules).
KEY POLICY TERMS
□ Initial insurance period: from _________ to ___________
□ Cover: _____
□ Risks insured: insolvency and protracted default
□ Maximum liability: ___ times paid premium
□ Maximum credit period: ___ days
□ Notification of overdue account: ___ days after the invoice due date
□ Declaration of turnover reporting period: every three months
□ Credit limit determination costs: __ EUR* in the Baltic states, ___ EUR* in other countries. The credit limit fee is charged once per insurance period regardless of how many times the limit has been changed or reviewed
□ Notification of overdue account registration fee: ____ EUR* (+...EUR* for notification if Cofanet is not used )
□ Debt collection fee: not applicable to insured invoices
□ Discretionary limit: _____ EUR, ,,,,,% cover, countries: ___________
□ Experience levels (value of prior transactions in the previous 12 months): 1/ up to _____ EUR
2/ up to _____ EUR 3/ up to _____ EUR 4/ up to _____ EUR
□ Insurance threshold: ___ EUR
* + VAT if applicable
GENERAL INFORMATION
Cofanet online database
□ As a customer of Coface, you have free access to the global Coface database – Cofanet. You can use Cofanet to request new or increase the existing credit limits, administer existing or delete unnecessary credit limits, send Coface a Notification of Overdue Account and acquire Topliner cover for selected buyers.
□ Each user of Cofanet has an individual password. If a password is blocked (following three unsuccessful attempts), you should send a request to reset the user to: [email protected]
□ All credit limits for new buyers should
Insurance cover and discretionary credit limits
□ Please note that all buyers to whom the insurance cover applies must have a valid credit limit.
□ If we have agreed in the policy that you will use the discretionary limit facility, then you can set your own credit limit to such buyers based on positive transaction history or a positive credit report. Such buyers shall not be previously
checked by Compagnie francaise D´assurance Pour le Commerce exterieur SA Latvia Branch (hereinafter „Coface“).
CONCLUSION OF A CONTRACT
Initial input of customers
□ Please send us detailed information on your buyers as soon as possible to allow Coface to evaluate their creditworthiness. In addition, please state the desired credit limit (sum of outstanding invoices) for each buyer.
□ Along with the identification data of the buyers and a credit limit amount, you must advise us of any adverse information and of any overdue account concerning a particular buyer.
□ Immediately after receiving this data, your buyers will be evaluated with respect to the desired credit limit and credit limits granted or denied. We will then send you an electronic confirmation in PDF format including the starting date of the credit limit and the amount of insurance cover. In addition, this information will also be visible in the Cofanet database.
DURING THE CONTRACT TERM
Administration of existing credit limits and new requests
□ The administration of buyer portfolio, including request of new credit limits and deleting of unnecessary credit limits, takes place via the Cofanet online system only.
□ Coface will issue you with an invoice for evaluation of each buyer's creditworthiness and monitoring once per insurance period. This means that even if you request or change the credit limit for a particular buyer several times, you will still pay only once per insurance period.
□ Invoice for review of new buyers' credit limits in the previous month shall be issued in the beginning of the next month.
□ In case of cancellation of a credit limit due to Notification of Overdue Account, it shall not be automatically restored. If you do, however, still require this credit limit, you should request it again via Cofanet once the debt has been paid.
□ When requesting credit limit, please note that exact information on the name, address and country of the buyer, as well as registration numbers (VAT and company) will speed up the identification and creditworthiness assessment of the buyer.
□ We will notify you of the cover granted to your buyer and its validity date electronically via the Cofanet system and will also send an e-mail confirmation in PDF format.
□ Usually the credit limit cover becomes valid on the request date if not stated otherwise on the limit decision.
□ If the credit limit is time-limited and you require it after the expiration of the original term, you should request a new credit limit for the buyer.
Topliner cover
□ Topliner is the option of purchasing additional cover for additional premium for those buyers for whom the regular credit limit was denied or granted partially.
□ The Topliner cover may be purchased for a maximum duration of 90 days.
□ The Topliner cover is irrevocable by either Coface or by you.
□ Use Cofanet to request the Topliner cover, whereby Cofanet will provide an offer within a matter of seconds which you then can accept or refuse.
□ The price of the Topliner is calculated for each buyer individually upon request.
□ Invoice for the Topliner cover is issued at the end of the month and is due immediately.
□ There is no need to declare the Topliner cover for buyers to whom the initial credit limit was refused in a full amount.
Administration of discretionary limit (DL) based on positive trading history
□ DL may be applied to customers with whom you have had trading within the last 12 months and who have not delayed payments by more than 30 days.
□ DL is not applicable to customers for whom the credit limit is denied, a Notification of Overdue Account should be submitted or adverse information (e.g., court proceedings, insolvency or late payments) is available.
□ DL is applied according to the DL levels and terms stated in the policy.
Example:
Experience level: 1/ 500,- 2.000 ,- EUR 2/ 2.000 – 5.000,- EUR
1/ Within the last 12 months the buyer has made 2 payments for the amount of 100 Euro and 400 Euro. Therefore the available DL is within the first level up to 2.000 ,- Euro.
2/ There are continued positive transactions with the buyer who orders and duly pays deliveries worth 2,000 Euro. Therefore the total positive transactions amount to 2,500 Euro and the DL is available up to 5,000 Euro. Overall, the total value of all transactions, i.e., invoices, should be summed up and the DL applied within this amount, but not more than stated in the policy.
□ If you have no transaction history with a buyer within the last 12 months, then at least 2 transactions with credit payment must be carried out until the transaction sum reaches the lowest threshold of at least the first DL experience level, and then DL is valid up to the maximum amount of the respective level.
□ In case of adverse experience with the buyer (e.g., payment delays over 30 days or Notification of Overdue Account), then the positive experience has to be built anew for 12 months.
□ Transactions with DL must be declared in the quarterly declaration of turnover.
Declaration of turnover
□ The full insurance premium is defined based on your turnover with insured buyers. This means that, once the insurance period ends, the actual turnover is multiplied by the premium rate and if the premium calculated exceeds the minimum premium stated in the policy, Coface will invoice you the difference.
□ When preparing the declaration of turnover, please use the declaration form provided by Coface. The declaration of turnover must include the quarterly turnovers with all insured buyers for whom Coface has granted credit limit, as well as buyers who are insured under the discretionary limit.
□ If you exceed the credit limit granted, the full turnover should be indicated in the declaration of turnover nevertheless.
□ You should not include buyers who do not have an insurance cover and/or valid credit limits in the declaration of turnover.
□ If credit limit is cancelled, then all prior deliveries are insured and you should declare the turnover with this buyer until the cancellation of the credit limit.
□ If an error is discovered in a previously submitted declaration, it should be corrected immediately without waiting for the next declaration period.
□ It should be noted that if a buyer is not included in the declaration, the insurance claim shall be rejected.
□ The declaration of turnover should be filed once a quarter and sent to Coface by the 15th day of the following month, unless your policy specifies otherwise.
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Changes in the credit period
□ If selected buyers require a longer credit period than specified in the policy, ask us (using Cofanet) about extending
the payment period before issuing an invoice.
□ Extension of the credit period for invoices where the initial payment period is shorter than the maximum credit period
specified in the policy – you yourself can extend this credit period up to the maximum number of days allowed under the policy.
ask us (using Cofanet) to approve invoice extension for these invoices.
□ The credit period can be extended only for invoices that have not yet become due.
□ In case of extension of due date, the term for filing Notification of Overdue Account is 30 days following the new due
date.
□ If the specified credit period is not adhered to, the insurance cover shall not apply to such invoices and insurance claim shall be rejected.
Overdue payments
□ If a buyer fails to pay the invoice in due time, you should send Coface a Notification of Overdue Account using the Cofanet online system not later than 60 days after the due date, unless your policy specifies otherwise.
□ When sending the Notification of Overdue Account, you should report all open accounts, including those that are not yet due. If you fail to submit this information, then Coface is released from the obligation to pay insurance claims for the invoices not reported.
□ We commence active debt recovery process immediately after the receipt of the Notification of Overdue Account.
□ If the deadline for submission of Notification of Overdue Account is approaching and the buyer promises to make the payment very soon, the overdue account should be nevertheless reported to Coface using the Cofanet online system, but with a request not to intervene yet. Coface can delay the active debt recovery for 2 weeks.
□ If you and your buyer agree on payment schedule and this agreement is honoured, Coface will not intervene.
□ Once the Notification of Overdue Account is sent, further deliveries to this buyer are not insured. The insurance cover may be restored if all delayed invoices are paid, new credit limit is requested and Coface has fully or partially restored the credit limit after repeated assessment of the company's creditworthiness.
□ Following the receipt of each Notification of Overdue Account, we shall issue you with an invoice for the registration fee, but Coface shall assume all pre-trial and legal costs related to the collection of the insured debt.
□ All payments relating to the notified invoices should be registered in Cofanet.
□ All incoming payments received after filing the Notification of Overdue Account with Coface shall be credited to the oldest receivable first.
□ Please note that if the deadline of filing the Notification of Overdue Account is missed, the insurance claim will be rejected.
Adverse information
□ One of the main objectives of credit insurance is to help the Coface customers avoid the loss of payment through the buyer's insolvency. You should therefore immediately notify us of any adverse information available to you regarding your buyer, such as filing of legal action, etc. Adverse publications about your customer in mass media should not be reported to us.
Payment of insurance premium
□ The amounts and the dates when the payment of insurance premium is due are stated in your policy.
□ Upon the close of an insurance period, we recalculate the insurance premium according to the declarations of insured turnover filed and, where necessary, issue an additional invoice according to the actual turnover.
Insurance claim procedure
□ The risks covered by the credit insurance policy are the insolvency (legal protection is one of the types of insolvency) and protracted default of your buyer.
□ Upon the receipt of Notification of Overdue Account, Coface shall commence the recovery of the full amount of debt.
after filing the Notification of Overdue Account.
□ If insolvency or legal protection has been instigated against your buyer, you can file an insurance claim as soon as administrator's decision on recognition of creditor claims is received.
□ Once the insolvency process of your buyer commences, you should take all necessary steps to reduce the potential losses (e.g., recover the delivered goods) and you have a duty to file your claim to the insolvency administrator in due time.
□ The documents required are listed in the insurance claim application form.
□ The claim shall be paid within 30 days after the receipt of all documents.
□ Once the insurance claim is paid, the full rights to the debt are handed over to Coface.
Payments of the insurance premium and for services
□ Invoices for the insurance premium shall be prepared by Compagnie francaise D´assurance Pour le Commerce exterieur SA Latvian Branch.
□ Invoices for credit limits and administration of Notifications of Overdue Payments shall be prepared by „Coface Latvia Services” Ltd.
□ When making payment, please use the correct payee's details as stated in the invoice.
Typical cases when Coface may reject the insurance claim
□ Transaction has not taken place.
□ No credit limit has been requested or approved for the buyer concerned.
□ Turnover for the buyer concerned has not been declared.
□ Credit period terms have not been observed.
□ The Notification of Overdue Account has been submitted too late. OUR CONTACT DETALES
Office in Latvia:
Berzaunes street 11a, Riga, LV - 1039, Latvia [email protected] T. +371 673 23 460 F +371 678 20 380
Office in Estonia:
Viru valjak 2 , 10111 Tallin, Estonia
[email protected] T. +372 68 63 448
