In an increasingly global economy, more and more businesses are looking to export goods abroad as a means of growing revenues. You may also find that importing goods from overseas suppliers could lead to huge savings. However, before you start international trading, you need to assess the risks involved and decide whether or not you need to insure against them.

Not only is there the risk of goods being lost, damaged or faulty, or delayed, you also need to consider the difficulties posed by non-paying customers or substandard suppliers.

It can be difficult enough chasing payment from customers when they're in the UK, let alone when they’re on the other side of the world.

Assessing the creditworthiness of a customer or the reliability of a supplier, when doing business with a company using a different language or currency, can create many complications.

Clashing business cultures and complying with other countries’ regulations when they’re governed by a different legal system also leaves much scope for error, and you may also need protection against changes in exchange rates if they take a turn for the worse once you have already agreed a price.

There are several products available to businesses that trade internationally, and the type and level of cover you need will depend on your business and the length and size of your contracts.

For more information and advice, contact UK Trade and Investment.