Credit & Surety Insurance Solutions
Credit and Surety insurance are powerful tools for managing financial risk, protecting balance sheets and supporting growth. It is particularly important when businesses operate across borders, rely on contractual performance, or extend credit to customers and counterparties.
At Dubois, we advise businesses on structuring Credit and Surety solutions that protect against non-payment, contractual failure and political risk while strengthening financial resilience and commercial credibility.
Who we work with
Bidders, builders and exporters.
Certainty behind every contract
We work with organisations where financial exposure, contractual obligations or international operations create material risk, including:
- Businesses extending trade credit to customers or distributors
- Exporters and companies delivering cross-border contracts
- Construction, engineering and infrastructure firms
- Companies bidding for public or private sector tenders
- Organisations operating in politically or economically complex jurisdictions
- Finance teams seeking alternatives to traditional bank guarantees
Our role is advisory and relationship-led, ensuring cover is aligned to your commercial reality, not just policy wording.
What we offer
Actuarial rigour. Drag Commercial clarity.
Credit Insurance
Credit insurance protects businesses against the risk of non-payment arising from customer insolvency, default or political events. It can apply to domestic trade, exports or overseas investment projects.
Key benefits include:
- Prevention
Ongoing monitoring of customers and counterparties through credit risk analysis, helping identify emerging issues early.
- Indemnification
Financial protection if a debtor becomes insolvent or fails to pay, safeguarding cash flow and balance-sheet stability.
- Recovery
Insurers manage the recovery process, assuming the cost and administrative burden of debt collection.
- Political Risk
Protection Cover for risks such as expropriation, nationalisation, political violence, currency inconvertibility or failure of foreign public authorities to meet contractual obligations.
Credit insurance can also support financing structures, enabling receivables to be discounted and lenders named as beneficiaries in the event of non-payment.
Surety
Surety insurance replaces traditional bank guarantees, providing assurance that contractual or legal obligations will be met without tying up capital or increasing debt.
If the policyholder fails to meet their obligations, the insurer compensates the beneficiary within agreed contractual limits.
Key advantages include:
- Transfer of risk to a third party
- Premiums treated as operating expense
- Improved financial ratios and credit capacity
- No impact on bank facilities or CIRBE exposure
- Lower overall cost and administrative burden
- No collateral or economic pledges required
Surety enhances credibility with customers, suppliers and public authorities while preserving financial flexibility.
When Surety is typically used
- Tax deferrals
- Public sector concessions and subsidies
- International contracts and overseas projects
- Airport, port and customs obligations
- Technical guarantees, including:
o Tender and performance bonds
o Maintenance guarantees
o Advance payment guarantees
o Retention guarantees
o Stockpiling of materials
Renewable Energy sector
Renewable energy projects often require surety at multiple stages, from tender submission through construction and handover.
Tender and bid bonds support procurement requirements. Performance bonds are commonly required under EPC or main works contracts to back delivery obligations.
Where mobilisation or long-lead equipment is funded upfront, advance payment bonds can support those payments and reduce as milestones are achieved.
Retention bonds and warranty or maintenance bonds are often used around completion, defects and handover, helping manage close-out requirements without tying up cash.
Need our advice?
Credit and Surety solutions are rarely one-size-fits-all. The structure, limits and wording matter, particularly where contracts, jurisdictions or political exposure are complex. Dubois provides clear, independent advice to help you understand your exposure, evaluate options and put the right protections in place.
FAQs
Credit insurance protects against non-payment by customers or counterparties. Surety insurance guarantees the fulfilment of contractual or legal obligations to a third party.
No. It can be applied to domestic trade, international contracts or foreign investments.
In many cases, yes, as it offers greater flexibility and less financial impact, subject to the requirements of the contract.
The most common are tender (provisional), performance (final), advance payment, retention and maintenance, depending on the specifications and structure of the contract.
Many beneficiaries require their own wording, but some clauses can be clarified or adjusted. We review the requirements from the outset and point out wording that often causes delays.
Solvency, the amount and term of the contract, history, the beneficiary's requirements and whether the guarantee is conditional or on first demand, as well as the counter-guarantees available, all have an influence.
Yes. Coverage can be structured for a portfolio of buyers or focused on key accounts where there is a concentration of risk.
No. It complements collection and customer risk management. Insurers expect reasonable procedures, clear conditions and timely follow-up on non-payments.
The steps in the policy regarding default management and notification are followed. If the conditions are met, the claim can be processed with the supporting documentation.
In some cases, yes. It can help in discussions with financial institutions, depending on the requirements of the financier and the structure of the policy.
It is used in tenders, EPC contracts, advance payments, closing and defect periods. The structure is aligned with the terms, milestones, reduction and release provided for in the underlying contract.