Export Insurance Policy

How it works

When carrying out an export contract, you may incur costs before delivering goods or providing services to your buyer (for example, purchasing raw materials). Or, as your goods are delivered, you may be entitled to payments under the terms of the contract.

The Export Insurance Policy can provide cover for unforeseen events, such as:

• buyer insolvency
• your buyer’s failure to pay amounts due to you
• political, economic or administrative events outside the UK that prevent payment being made in foreign currencies
• hostilities or civil disturbances

The premium payable for our cover is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Eligibility

You must meet the following conditions:

• you’re exporting from the UK and have an established business base here
• at least 20% of the value of your export comes from UK goods or services (the value can include your profit margin)
• you’re unable to get export insurance from the private sector (you may need to show evidence that you’ve tried but usually only if your export value is over £250,000)
• your buyer is based overseas in a country that UKEF covers

Follow these steps to check if a country is covered.

1. Find your buyer’s country on the list of countries.
2. Look for the ‘cash or short term cover’ information to check whether you can get UKEF export insurance for this buyer country.

Get a quote

How you get a quote depends on your type of buyer.

If your buyer is in the private sector

You can get an instant quote via GOV.UK for:

• a single contract policy for up to 24 months
• multiple contract policy of 12 months

If you need cover for longer than these time periods, fill in this form on GOV.UK instead.

If your buyer is a government or public sector body

You can get a quote by filling in this form on GOV.UK

Help and support

Complete our contact form to discuss an application.