James and Dan, Senior Commercial Underwriters at Nexus Trade Credit, share their thoughts on the evolving Top-Up market valuable insights on the evolving market landscape and the market opportunities for 2025.

Okay guys, easy one to start with: tell us about your background and your roles within Trade Credit.

"Hi, I’m James – I have been working in insurance for 18 years now, starting in general before making the move into Trade Credit in 2017. For the past two years I’ve been with Nexus in a National New Business role which involves underwriting all three of our products – Monitored WTO policies, Non-Cancellable Cover and our Top-Up offering."

"Hi, I’m Dan, I’ve been in the industry for just over 14 years now, working across the market in various commercial roles and now, since the start of this year, overseeing our Non-can and Top-up clients here at Nexus."

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Why top-up? What makes it so different to a normal Whole Turnover policy?

JA: "Well, a top up program is there to compliment and work alongside a WTO policy. It is different in that it isn’t there to pick up the majority of the client’s risk base, but specific names where their current insurer is struggling with reaching the exposure levels clients may need. Our wording mirrors their current policy specifics, so really, it is there to boost their cover to the levels they require, if they do have shortfalls."

DT: "It is a secondary facility that supports client’s trade, it provides that support of cover to allow clients to maximise growth potential while being supported by standard WTO wordings from their primary provider. One of the biggest bug bears within Trade Credit is if you are willing to do X why can’t you push to Y? The top-up facility provides a cost-effective solution to that question and provides a risk sharing opportunity to the primary policy provider without the need to carry additional risk themselves. We have changed our offering, so we more closely match the Primary policy, making it easy for the client to use."

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How has the market evolved in recent years? What have the challenges been?

JA: "I would say both the insurance market and the top-up products have evolved over recent years. Historically there was a nervousness in the market around allowing another insurer to provide top up credit limits. However, it feels like the UK market is evolving and the majority of insurers understand that it is a great solution to help clients reach maximum cover levels by allowing a cooperation between us and themselves. At the end of the day, if it is good for the client, it must be good for the market.
Since I joined Nexus, one area in which we’ve evolved our Top-up offering is in the flexibility of limit underwriting. As part of a portfolio, we now have the ability to agree cover levels that exceed those of the primary carrier, or to provide cover where the primary carrier is unable to do so. Our underwriting expertise allows us to make independent judgements, which has proved to be a significant value-add for our clients over the past 12 months."

DT: "Since joining, I’ve been working closely with our dedicated Top Up Risk Underwriter, Jack Scorer, and speak to him regularly about how he deals with risks that tend to be more challenging. His opinion is that the key is understanding the reason for a restriction: sometimes it is just that there is only so far you can go on a balance sheet with limited size, but sometimes it is a factor of the primary insurer’s aggregate exposure. If the former, then the underwriting mantra of ‘information is king’ helps us support credit limits; if the latter, then allocating the risk to a Top-Up policy can often be a win-win for the insured, the primary, and us as the Top-Up provider.
Commercially, it’s clear from new entrants to the market that there has been a definite shift in how Credit Insurance is viewed. While the number of policies has remained, there have been various opportunities for growth- and we believe Top-up plays an important role in that. As James says, we’re simply here to provide a supportive secondary layer of protection for clients who understand the importance of credit insurance in supporting their business."

For 2025 and beyond, what is the opportunity for the market?

JA:  "It’s always difficult to predict, but the unprecedented levels of inflation we saw in 2022-23 really highlighted the value of the product. As the UK economy works towards growth in what continues to be challenging and unpredictable times, it’s likely that capacity issues will affect the industry as a whole rather than specific sectors. Our product is purpose-built for this dilemma, and over the past two years, we’ve seen a rise in both new Top-up clients and broker partners promoting it. In fact, Top-up was Nexus Trade Credit’s highest growth product in 2024, evidencing that there is a demand for the product. To make this work effectively for clients, we need better collaboration between insurers. I expect this to continue through this year and beyond- with the goal being to ensure no client in the trade credit market is ever underinsured due to limit restrictions."

DT: "This presents a significant opportunity to grow the UK market. We’ve seen the level of growth achieved through the use of our Top-up facilities in Germany, and we’re excited to be a key player in driving similar progress in the UK. It provides brokers with an alternative solution when cover on certain buyers or areas of a client’s portfolio falls short of what’s needed. It also creates an opportunity for greater
collaboration within the market- working together to deliver the best outcomes for clients, while building confidence in the value of Credit Insurance and supporting growth. I believe the next five years will bring increased co-operation between insurers, enabling better risk allocation, maximum cover, and more efficient pricing for our clients."

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Finally, there are other top-up providers out there in the market….what makes Nexus Trade Credit stand out?

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JA:  "Like the WTO market, the Top-up market is currently incredibly competitive, and I expect other Top-up insurers are experiencing similar levels of growth. Where Nexus has really stood out as a great solution is through our strong risk underwriting approach, which has allowed us greater flexibility on credit limits, often offering limit levels in excess of the primary insurer. We have the facilities to manage high-limit traffic, including our online portal and the underwriting capacity to handle a high volume of requests when needed. Being able to Top Up a variety of insurers and wordings, support cover requirements like extended work-in-progress or long binding contract durations, agree monitored and non can top up limits when needed, it means we are able to work on many of the opportunities that are presented to us."

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DT: "Agree with James here. Since starting at Nexus, I’ve been really impressed with their flexibility to work around the client’s requirements. I’ve been really impressed by the flexibility we offer in adapting to clients’ specific requirements. We simply follow the wording of the Primary Insurance Policy and align our Top-up offer accordingly. We have a simple on boarding process, and, as with every Nexus Trade Credit policy, each case comes with a dedicated risk underwriter who acts as the main point of contact. Our underwriters have exceptional expertise and are always happy to discuss particular risks, share their deep sector knowledge, and help clients maximise the potential within their portfolio wherever possible."