Atradius Surety FAQs

A surety bond is a three-party agreement in which the
insurer (guarantor) provides a guarantee to the party who
receives the benefit of the bond (the beneficiary), that a
third party (the principal) will meet its contractual, legal, or
regulatory obligations.

A surety bond is therefore a commitment from the guarantor
(Atradius) to the beneficiary to stand in when the primarily
obliged party, the principal (our customer) fails to perform
on a contractual obligation or in respect of a regulation
requirement.

Although banks have been traditionally used for guarantees,
surety bonds issued by insurance companies have proven to
be equally acceptable.
Surety bonds are usually conditional, whereas bank
guarantees can be claimed on first demand by the borrower.

While surety bonds do not affect customers’ bank credit
limits, bank guarantees are usually part of a credit line and
as such every bank guarantee entails usage of this credit line.
While surety bonds can be customised, bank guarantees are
usually standardised products.

• Flexibility: tailor-made solutions that fit your needs and business goals.
• Reliability: financial rating affirmed by A.M. Best as A (excellent) and Moody’s as A1 with a stable outlook making Atradius a reliable reference for your beneficiary and partners.
• Expertise: more than 50 years of experience on the surety market and in-depth market knowledge with local presence in 12 European countries.
• Prudent risk management: long-term partnership is more important to us than short-term growth. We are not just a facility provider, but a surety underwriter, aiming at helping you secure your performance and boost your business development.
• Fast and efficient support: quickly and easily handling your surety needs. Assist you with technical and financial advice that might prevent default on your obligations.

At Atradius Surety we work with different industries and
maintain relationships with a wide range of companies.
Some of the main sectors we are active in are: construction,
logistics, manufacturing, real estate, energy and waste
management.

No, we are not allowed to issue financial guarantees. In fact,
as financial guarantees are issued to cover purely financial
obligations granted by banks or financial institutions, these
products fall outside the scope of insurance.

Our surety bonds are widely accepted by governments as well
as large publicly traded companies and private enterprises.

Atradius Surety is active and can issue surety bonds locally in 12 European countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Surety requests related to other countries are evaluated on a case by case basis.

Our Surety teams assess these requests according to relevant
local legislation on insurance licensing as well as other
factors, such as the nature of the underlying obligations,
terms and conditions, etc.

Individual (one-off) surety bonds can be offered
exceptionally and only in some of the countries where
Atradius offers Surety. In most of the cases, first a guarantee
facility agreement has to be established in the form of a
contract between Atradius and you, our customer. Afterwards
you can apply for the issuance of individual surety bonds
under the scope of this facility.

The information required to assess a surety bond facility is,
among others:

• Financial statements (at least the last three financial years).
• Stakeholders’ and management team information.
• Business strategy (plan) for the next few years.
• Overall surety bond need (e.g. type of bonds, beneficiary countries, durations).

Depending on the complexity, this process can take up to a
couple of weeks.

• Apply for a surety bond through our online application
  process or an email (depending on the bond needed).
• Fill in the application form including the required
  bond type and wording, amount, duration and further
  specifications about the obligations to cover.
• Your application is assessed by your local surety team.
• You receive a draft of the surety bond to be issued and if
  approved by you.
• The surety bond is issued in favour of the beneficiary.

• Your underlying obligation that originates the surety need (e.g. contract, regulations).
• Surety bond amount, duration and beneficiary.
• Your capability of fulfilling your obligations towards the beneficiary.
• Specific requirements for the surety bond wording if any. After the evaluation has been done, we will send you an offer, which sets out all terms and conditions required in connection with the underlying risk.

In case of a new relationship, Atradius Surety needs to perform
a full underwriting assessment, which depending on
the complexity, may take up to a few weeks to be completed
and a surety bonds facility to be established. Once the facility
is established, in most cases we can issue a surety bond
within 24 hours, depending on the amount, complexity and
nature of the case.

A collateral is an asset or more general commitment that has
been offered as a counter guarantee for a policy or a surety
bond.

Collateral might be needed in some countries and
cases. Collateral is usually requested in order to strengthen
the credit worthiness of a prospect/customer and enable a
positive final evaluation of a surety bond request.

We evaluate each case individually as the premium
varies according to the type and duration of the bond, the
customer’s financial information and the market practice.

Duration varies depending on the type of a surety bond.

A surety bond is terminated when it reaches its specific
expiration date or when the beneficiary provides a “release
letter”. This is a declaration that the underlying obligations
have been fulfilled and no longer need to be guaranteed.

No, we cannot cancel a surety bond. However, specific conditions may apply.

First, the customer is informed that a claim has been filed to
give him the opportunity to reach out to the beneficiary to
resolve the case. If this is unsuccessful, we assess the claim
for its validity and, if approved, we pay the amount due to the
beneficiary in accordance with the value determined within
the bond. If we consider the request baseless or partially
grounded (such as the unfair calling of a bond), we can take
legal action to protect both your business and ourselves.