保险英语Unit 5

　　[00:00.00]Different types of credit cover

[00:02.51]·HEADING A

[00:04.23]Offered by a number of underwriters in the UK and on the continent,this policy structure protects against the catastrophe 1 risk.

[00:13.09]Sometimes called "Excess of Loss" or "Stop Loss cover",

[00:17.48]the underwriting philosophy is centred around the insured's existing in-house credit management controls.

[00:24.71]The insured will agree a "first loss" or non-qualifying loss designed to eliminate predictable lower level losses.

[00:32.89]Bad debt losses in excess of this level accumulate within a second predetermined band or layer,

[00:39.76]referred to as the annual aggregate 2.

[00:42.37]A layer of cover is then purchased in excess of this self-insured proportion.

[00:47.96]Cover of up to 100% of each qualifying loss in excess of this agreed annual aggregate is available.

[00:55.67]The cover is normally fixed 3 up to an agreed ceiling of annual losses,known as the "maximum liability."

[01:03.84]·HEADING B

[01:05.15]This is the more traditional credit insurance policy,normally protecting all sales under a single policy.

[01:12.57]The policy provides the credit manager with up-to-date financial advice on all principal customers.

[01:19.07]Generally the insured will self-insure an element of each credit limit.Normally indemnity 4 is 80%-85%.

[01:29.18]At commencement of the policy an assessment 5 is made of turnover 6 likely to be declared under the policy.

[01:36.26]The underwriter will agree an annual premium 7 rate charged against such declarations,usually quarterly.

[01:43.47]·HEADING C

[01:44.99]Some insurers now offer pre-delivery cover as an additional element of whole turnover cover.

[01:51.60]Indemnity is the same as normal credit risk and premium is either charged as an additional rate on turnover or is combined in a single charge.

[02:01.65]·HEADING D

[02:03.06]More companies are now expanding their export business and require a simple,

[02:08.57]cost-effective credit insurance policy which does not automatically provide unnecessary political risk cover.

[02:16.15]Multi market insurance has been designed to provide cover in a single policy against the risk of non-payment,

[02:22.99]due to insolvency 8 or protracted 9 default,in the UK and most OECD markets.

[02:29.50]All credit risks are covered with 90% indemnity for both UK and export sales.

[02:36.29]Financial advice is also available on major buyers.

[02:40.13]·HEADING E

[02:41.33]Occasionally one debtor 10 may represent an inordinately 11 large element of a company's turnover.

[02:48.54]Although one argument suggests that if the buyer is undoubted,then credit insurance cover is not necessary,

[02:55.91]the catastrophic effect of non-payment,due to unforeseeable or uncontrollable events,would invariably suggest otherwise.

[03:03.93]Principal customer cover provides protection against non-payment through insolvency of larger buyers.

[03:10.98]The benefit of financial advice is available and indemnities 12 vary between 70%-90%.

[03:17.64]This type of cover is sometimes referred to as "Datum 13 Line" cover.

[03:22.87]·HEADING F

[03:24.28]Insures individual target risks or the large single contract.

[03:29.40]Premium can be charged as a percentage rate on insured sales,but is more likely to be calculated as a rate on contract value.

[03:38.51]Indemnity varies from 75% to 100%,dependent upon the quality of risk.

[03:45.25]·HEADING G

[03:46.61]Insures the advance payments made to a supplier prior to receipt of goods.

[03:52.02]The policy can also be extended to cover consequential 14 loss which may be incurred 15 if the supplier defaults.

[03:59.18]Policies are usually underwritten on a single contract basis with premium charged as a fixed amount on contract value.

[04:07.82]Indemnity up to 100% is available.

[04:11.64]Five-tier rate system controversial

[04:14.56]Germany's export credit insurance system came of age on July 1 with the abandonment of a 50-year-old system of uniform premium rates.

[04:24.49]A five-tier system was introduced which effectively reduced the former standard premium by two-thirds for cover on deals with lowest-risk countries,

[04:34.94]and doubled it for companies doing business with the world's economic laggards 16.

[04:39.51]While the government saw the change as an occasion for celebration,

[04:43.43]industry and the opposition 17 remained as resolutely 18 glum 19 as they had through more than two years of consultation 20.

[04:51.06]Certain media commentators 21 were downright aggressive.

[04:54.74]One leading newspaper,for example,described the move as an insurance policy for the Bonn government paid for by exporters.

[05:03.49]East German politicians complained that because of the heavier premiums 22 for deals with their manufacturers' traditional Russian and other east bloc 23 countries,

[05:13.68]export credit insurance would now exclusively benefit west German companies.

[05:18.82]Bonn was insistent 24 that the changes should go through.

[05:22.17]Germany was behind the times,it said,being the only major exporter to apply uniform tariffs 25.

[05:28.67]It also had international agreements to honour:subsidy rules in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade required export credit insurance schemes to be independent and self-supporting.

[05:41.68]The old system was increasingly failing to meet these criteria 26.

[05:45.70]At the same time,the Bonn administration was under strict orders from the Bundesbank to cut state spending wherever possible.

[05:53.91]Mounting deficits 28 in the state-sponsored Hermes insurance programme,administered by the Allianz group,were a clear target.

[06:02.14]The federal budget subsidised the Hermes programme to the tune 29 of a record DM5.1bn last year,

[06:10.10]and a further escalation 30 to DM7.5bn(regardless of the impact of the new premiums) has already been earmarked for the current year.

[06:19.74]As Gunter Rexrodt,economics minister,pointed out recently,

[06:23.71]DM4.5bn of the 1993 Hermes deficit 27 was due to outstanding debts from the former Soviet 31 Union.

[06:32.18]While he failed to mention that countries such as Russia and the Ukraine-still important outlets 32 for east Germany's struggling industry-had been placed in the worst risk grade,

[06:43.33]he made much of cheaper premiums for other countries where west German exporters are hoping to find new growth.

[06:50.64]Singapore,Taiwan and South Korea are now in the top rank-"countries without special risks".

[06:57.93]For export credit insurance purposes,they are now on equal terms with large industrialised nations for which the services of Hermes play no role.

[07:07.55]Premiums on deals with China and the Czech Republic are reduced by a third.

[07:12.80]Mr Rexrodt insisted that higher premiums for Russia and former Soviet Union states offered no disadvantages to German exporters,

[07:21.89]since competing nations had long since been paying more for cover there.

[07:26.90]While the minister side-stepped the implications for east Germany,

[07:31.00]his ministry 33 officials had earlier ridden rough-shod over protests.

[07:35.00]At a March meeting in the Baltic state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,

[07:39.31]regional leaders protested that Hermes operated exclusively on behalf of west German interests.

[07:45.55]A Hermes representative was able to demonstrate the charge as untrue with figures which at the same time,

[07:52.32]which at the same time starkly 34 illustrated 35 just how important the system was to the region's economy.

[07:57.70]While Hermes covered 6 per cent at most of all German exports,the proportion rose to 50 per cent in the former GDR.