In 2007 the International Credit Insurance and Surety Association (ICISA) published the first edition of the Catalogue of Credit Insurance Terminology in order to clarify terms used in credit insurance for the benefit of anyone who is not familiar with them. The catalogue became a success and was translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. It forms the basis of the expanded ‘Glossary of trade credit terminology’ in this volume.

In 2010 the Management Committee of ICISA approved the production of an ICISA book on trade credit insurance. The aim of this book is to have an industry-wide reference manual for the sector and to better position the trade credit insurance industry.

The Credit Insurance Committee of ICISA identified a Project Team, which selected the industry experts in their field as authors and editors for the book. The result of this collaborative effort by the Project Team describes the ‘lifeline’ of the credit insurance product, from the initial application stage to the expiration phase of the policy, including practical use aspects for credit managers.

This book is not meant to be a comprehensive encyclopaedia of all possible variations in trade credit insurance, but offers compact information on the history of trade, the need for protection against trade credit risks and solutions offered by credit insurance providers.

The focus is on short term credit, including whole turnover policies and single risk policies.

The following authors have contributed to the content of the book through essays or by editing chapters. They work(ed) for the companies mentioned, when they wrote their contribution or edited the content. The book was edited by Martin van der Hoek (Coface).

Incidental repetition of information occurs in order to maintain the structure of the chapters.

The ICISA Yearbook may provide the reader with additional information. This companion document may be found on the ICISA website (www.icisa.org).