Allianz Trade Explained
Market Invoice is an independent UK invoice finance comparison site. We do not broker or sell Allianz Trade. This page is here to explain what it is and how it differs from invoice finance.
Allianz Trade is the world's largest trade credit insurer (formerly Euler Hermes), not an invoice finance lender. It insures your sales ledger against customer non-payment and insolvency: if a customer fails to pay, the policy reimburses an agreed percentage of the loss. It does not advance you cash against unpaid invoices. Trade credit insurance pairs with, rather than replaces, an invoice finance facility, so businesses often hold both: one funds the ledger, the other protects it.
Last updated: 2 June 2026.
Allianz Trade (formerly Euler Hermes) is the world's largest trade credit insurer, not an invoice finance lender. It insures your ledger against customer non-payment and insolvency rather than advancing cash against invoices. More detail + scope
Summary
Allianz Trade is trade credit insurance, not invoice finance. It reimburses an agreed share of the loss (typically 80 to 90%) when a customer becomes insolvent or defaults, but it provides no working capital on its own. It pairs with, rather than replaces, an invoice finance facility. Market Invoice does not broker or sell it; this is comparison and education only.
This page covers
What Allianz Trade is, what trade credit insurance does, how it differs from invoice finance, how the two work together, and how a standalone policy differs from integrated bad debt protection.
Not covered here
We do not broker or sell Allianz Trade. For funding against unpaid invoices see /providers/ and /guides/; for integrated cover see /guides/invoice-finance-bad-debt-protection/.
Key Facts
What is trade credit insurance?
Trade credit insurance is a policy that protects a business against the risk of its customers not paying. The insurer assesses each of your customers, sets a credit limit per debtor, and agrees to reimburse you (typically 80 to 90% of the invoice value) if an insured customer becomes insolvent or fails to pay within an agreed period after the due date. You keep raising and collecting your own invoices as normal. The cover sits behind the ledger and only activates when a debtor defaults.
Allianz Trade, formerly Euler Hermes, is the largest provider of this cover in the world, and a long-established name in UK and export credit risk data. Premiums are charged as a percentage of insured turnover, and underwriting a policy typically takes one to three weeks. Crucially, it is insurance: it transfers risk, it does not provide working capital.
How it differs from invoice finance
Invoice finance and trade credit insurance are often confused because both involve unpaid invoices, but they do opposite jobs. Invoice finance is a funding product: a lender advances you cash (typically up to 90% of an invoice) within a day or two, so you are not waiting 30 to 90 days for the customer to pay. Trade credit insurance is a protection product: it gives you no cash up front, but it reimburses your loss if a customer ultimately does not pay at all.
| Invoice finance | Allianz Trade (credit insurance) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it gives you | Cash now against invoices | Reimbursement if a customer defaults |
| Solves | A cash gap from long payment terms | The risk of non-payment or insolvency |
| Who collects | Lender (factoring) or you (discounting) | You, as normal |
| Cost basis | Service charge plus discount fee | Premium as % of insured turnover |
| Provides working capital? | Yes | No |
How the two work together
Because they do different jobs, trade credit insurance and invoice finance are complementary, not alternatives. A business can fund its ledger through an invoice finance facility and insure the same ledger through an Allianz Trade policy. An insured ledger can also improve the terms an invoice finance lender is willing to offer, because the lender's exposure to a customer default is reduced when a credit insurer stands behind it. In practice, the funded-and-insured combination is common among larger or export-heavy SMEs that want both accelerated cash flow and protection.
Allianz Trade vs integrated bad debt protection
Many UK invoice finance providers, including Aldermore and Bibby Financial Services, offer bad debt protection built into the facility. This is a simpler, narrower form of the same idea: it covers only the invoices funded through that facility, and it is billed as part of the service charge. A standalone Allianz Trade policy covers your whole ledger (including invoices not on an invoice finance facility), and brings wider cover options and export credit data, but it is a separate policy to arrange and run. Our bad debt protection guide sets out the full comparison.
When do you want one, the other, or both?
Lean towards credit insurance
- One customer is a large share of your ledger
- You export into less familiar markets
- You trade in a high-insolvency sector
- Your real worry is a customer not paying, not a cash gap
Lean towards invoice finance
- Long payment terms are squeezing your cash flow
- You need funds in your account in 24 to 48 hours
- You want funding that scales with your sales
- Standalone insurance gives you no working capital
If you want both accelerated cash and protection on the same ledger, you hold both: an invoice finance facility for funding, and credit insurance (or the lender's integrated bad debt protection) for cover.
Our position
Allianz Trade is a strong, well-established name in its field, but its field is insurance, not lending. Market Invoice does not broker, sell or earn commission on Allianz Trade or any trade credit insurance policy. We include this page so businesses comparing options can tell the two products apart: if your need is protection against non-payment, credit insurance is the right tool; if your need is cash against unpaid invoices, that is invoice finance, and that is what we help you compare.
Director, Market Invoice
Oliver leads Market Invoice's editorial and comparison research. With a background in UK commercial finance, he oversees provider analysis, rate verification, and industry reporting across all verticals.
Last reviewed: 2 June 2026