Introduction
In Japan, the main credit insurance product is short-term commercial credit insurance. The last few years have seen remarkable development in this area and the brief but unique history of commercial credit insurance has played a large part in creating the backdrop to this development.
Although, historically , domestic trading in Japan has been as active as in European countries, commercial credit insurance is a relatively new product to the insurance industry in Japan.
Traditionally in Japan, commercial credit risks were covered by big trading companies or
by a unique ‘exclusive sales agents’ system. However, both of these schemes are extremely costly and, as demand for increasingly cost-efficient practices in the trading system has risen, so too has the demand for alternative systems of cover.