What’s New
Credit insurance help & support
We’re working hard to listen to your feedback and make improvements to the Portfolio Credit Insurance portal so it’s easier and faster for you to manage your insurance with EDC. Read below to better understand the changes we’ve recently made, and how they impact you.
Recent updates
January 2022
Highlights
Portfolio Credit Insurance (PCI) invoice payments
An FAQ section related to payment of PCI invoices.
Payments
We’ll provide you with a monthly Statement of Account. You can also access your PCI invoices for your export and domestic Statement of Account balances on the EDC portal.
If there’s a broker on your policy and/or you have directed us to pay a claim to your financial institution, the broker is copied on your Statement of Account.
If you have a Direction to Pay established with your financial institution, they will be copied on all your late payment notifications.
Information related to a PCI policy will only be shared with third parties where you’ve given formal consent to do so.
Starting on Jan. 1, 2022, ALL export and domestic policies with an overdue outstanding balance began to accrue interest. If you have an outstanding balance, you’ll start seeing interest charged on your February 2022 Statement of Account. The interest rate you’re charged is explained on all invoices and Statement of Accounts.
All invoices are due per the invoice terms.
If your Statement of Account becomes delinquent, you’ll be advised. You’ll receive two courtesy overdue notices; one after your invoice becomes 3 days overdue and another when your invoice becomes 15 days overdue. If left unpaid, you’ll receive a notice of policy cancellation 45 days past the original due date. If the delinquency isn’t resolved within 15 days, your policy will be cancelled.
Financial institutions, brokers and policy-holders can call EDC’s Customer Care team (CCT) with any questions. They can be contacted via email at support@edc.ca or they can be reached between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, by calling 1-866-716-7201.
Directions for how you can pay the outstanding amount due are listed in your Statement of Account on the second page. Acceptable payment methods include:
- Online banking (Canadian funds only)
- Bank wire transfer
- Automated clearing house (ACH) and electronic fund transfer (EFT)
- Online credit card payment via Visa, Mastercard and American Express*
When making a payment, you must indicate your policy number in your payment information. If you have more than one policy, payment must be made separately for each policy. Unless specified, we’ll apply payment to the oldest invoice first.
* EDC’s online credit card payment was launched in November 2021. You must refer to a recent (after Nov. 1, 2021) Statement of Account to access the credit card payment link.
For fast payments, follow these steps:
- Click on the link on your email invoice or statement of account to navigate to the payment page.
- Confirm your company and policy details, and confirm the amount to be paid.
- Navigate to the payment screen and provide your credit card details.
When your payment goes through, you’ll receive a confirmation email.
No, we phased out credit card payments by phone in November 2021.
Yes, all domestic and export PCI policies with an overdue outstanding balance accrue interest as of Jan. 1, 2022.
If payment delinquency is unresolved within the 15-day notice period, your policy will be cancelled.
Yes, if you have signed up for PAD, our system will pull amounts for future invoices only. Invoices that are already outstanding must be paid using another method. Those other methods are outlined on the second page of your invoice and Statement of Account.
Policy
Your PCI policy is delinquent when amounts due under that policy aren’t paid by the due date.
Your PCI policy may not be renewed if the policy is delinquent.
If your PCI policy was cancelled due to delinquency (or any other reason), you can apply for a new policy following EDC’s new applicant process. We will only consider issuing a new policy if you’re in good standing with previously owed amounts.
Claims
If you submit an eligible claim, we’ll offset the claim amount against the premium owed before paying the claim amount. This also applies when your policy has a direction to pay (DTP) or tripartite agreement in place with a financial institution.
October 2021
Highlights
We’re making it easier for you to pay your Portfolio Credit Insurance (PCI) account balances. You can now pay your bills quickly online using your credit card with the personalized payment link in your invoice or statement of account.
For fast payments, follow these steps:
- Click on the link on your email invoice or statement of account to navigate to the payment page.
- Confirm your company and policy details, and confirm the amount to be paid.
- Navigate to the payment screen and provide your credit card details.
When your payment goes through, you’ll receive a confirmation email.
For additional help or questions, contact our Customer Care team.
Call 1-866-716-7201 ›
November 2020
Highlights
Tips for getting Credit Insurance claims approved (PDF)
This helpful sheet gives tips for submitting a successful claim. It applies to both EDC Portfolio Credit Insurance and EDC Select Credit Insurance policies.
It includes information such as:
- key dates;
- information on finding a vetted collection agency;
- when you should stop shipping and/or providing services; and
- links to checklists that provide the types of documentation—emails, contracts, and other items—that EDC is looking for in a claim.
To download this useful PDF, click here.
Temporary measures update
Highlights – Updated Dec. 8, 2020
Changes to Portfolio Credit Insurance temporary measures
- While some of the temporary measures relating to insurance coverage are ending, we’ll continue to take on greater risk than we have in the past.
- Enhanced domestic coverage for Compagnie Française d’Assurance pour le Commerce Exterieur (COFACE) policies continues to be available until the end of 2021.
If you chose to defer your export premium payments in 2020:
- The temporary deferral period for premium payments will be ending on Dec. 31, 2020.
- The amount owing will appear on your Statement of Account which will be emailed to your billing contact. It can also be found in the Invoices and Statements Portal.
- As an added measure of relief, EDC won’t charge interest on deferred export premiums from 2020, nor will interest accrue on premium payments during 2021.
Making payments
- Instructions on how to pay are listed on the second page of your Statement of Account.
- If you deferred your payments in 2020, payments for the outstanding balance can be made in instalments throughout the year. (If you have more than one policy, please make payments separately, noting your policy number on each payment.)
Filing a claim
- In 2020, we shortened the waiting periods that our customers needed to observe before filing a claim. Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, we’ll be reinstating the 120-day waiting period outlined in your export policy. Any claims must once again follow the waiting period detailed in the “Claims and Overdue” section of your Coverage Certificate.
- If you file a claim while you still have outstanding premium payments owing, we’ll deduct the amount owing from your claim payment.
Questions?
- EDC’s Customer Care team is available weekdays between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET to support you. You can call us at 1-866-716-7201 or send an email to support@edc.ca.
COVID-19
Highlights - Updated September 24, 2020
Temporary measures in effect to support your business during COVID-19.
- When assessing new buyer coverage requests for viable buyers, we will continue to take on greater risk than we have in the past.
- We are increasing our flexibility to maintain coverage where possible in situations where a buyer’s credit deteriorates.
- We are prepared to be flexible with your premium and credit fee payment by allowing for payment deferrals until December 31, 2020 if required.
- Until December 31, 2020, we will waive the 120-day waiting period for claims under your export policy, allowing you to file and receive payment for a claim earlier than under your standard policy terms and conditions.
IMPORTANT: All claims will still be closely evaluated using our regular claims guidelines.
Enhanced Domestic Coverage
If you have a Compagnie Française d’Assurance pour le Commerce Exterieur (COFACE) domestic insurance policy, EDC may be able to offer enhanced coverage from COFACE for sales in Canada for an additional premium.
How to access this enhanced coverage:
- Request a new limit for a Canadian buyer as you normally would through the Portfolio Credit Insurance Portal;
- If the Canadian buyer is only partially approved or turned down completely, you will receive confirmation of the decision including a paragraph indicating that enhanced coverage may be available for an additional premium. The pricing will be based on the following formula: [(the additional Credit Limit amount x 0.0140) / 365] x the number of days the credit limit is in effect, plus applicable taxes;
- Reply to the email indicating that you agree with the additional premium and wish to proceed with your request;
- In the same email reply, you will also need to confirm that your company meets certain criteria specified in the email to qualify for this additional coverage (see entities for which coverage is not available in the Notes and Exceptions below); and
- If you qualify, your request for the enhanced cover will be formally assessed and if approved, a temporary enhanced limit will be issued.
We have also adjusted some of our processing times to ensure we are able to continue to serve all of our customer’s needs during this period of heightened demand.
- New insurance application requests: 20-25 business days
- New credit limit requests: 15-20 business days
- Claims: 5-10 business days
- Renewals: 30-60 days prior to your policy anniversary date
Thank you for your patience as we work as quickly as possible to return to our usual, faster response time.
February 2020
Highlights
Clearer decision timelines for new credit limit requests
While many credit limit requests for new buyers are decided automatically by the portal, there are cases where the request requires further review. We’ve made enhancements to the on screen and email communications to provide you with a more accurate Expected Decision Date for credit approvals.
You can track the status of your pending credit decisions on the Pending Decisions tab on the My Portfolio screen.
Learn more about how to review the status of a credit approval here.
Improvements to policy renewals
We’ve made several improvements to make it easier for you to renew your Portfolio Credit Insurance Policy.
- System generated communications have been updated so you can better understand what is required to successfully renew a policy.
- You will now be alerted when your renewal form is ready to complete by a red bell, visible on the top of your screen at all times. Click on the red bell to go to the My Alerts page to review all outstanding tasks requiring your attention.
- If a country is removed from a policy during renewal, credit limits with buyers in that country will now be withdrawn automatically. Previously, unused credit limits would remain attached to the policy, and risked incurring extra fees.
Comments? Suggestions?
If you have any feedback about this update, or any suggestions for future improvements to the portal we would be more than happy to hear from you. Please take two minutes to complete our short survey and share your thoughts.
September 2019
Highlights
My Alerts
This new page allows you to easily track, and action important tasks and notifications related to your policy. Click on the red 🔔 at the top of your screen to see notifications for:
- Sales declarations for any policies that require them, as well as their due dates
- New policy offers, change requests, and renewal offers requiring your approval, with their due dates
- A reminder when your policy renewal form is ready for submission, to ensure no lapse in coverage
Tip: You can make the My Alerts view the default page by setting your preference in your user profile. Learn more about My Alerts here.
Managing buyers
It’s now easier to manage your portfolio of buyers, like requesting new credit limits, increasing or decreasing a credit limit, and submitting overdues and claims. The Services button has been removed and replaced with two buttons: Manage Limit and Manage Debt for each buyer, which you can now access directly from the My Portfolio screen.
Under Manage Limit you can:
- Request a credit limit for a new buyer
- Request a credit increase
- Appeal a decision
- Reduce a credit limit
- Extend a temporary limit
- Modify the buyer’s payment terms
Under Manage Debt you can:
- Submit a claim
- Report an overdue buyer
- Submit a request for reimbursement of collection fees
- Request the approval of the buyer’s repayment plan
You can read the updated instructions for managing your buyers here.
Video tutorials
To help you use our online system, we’ve created short new video tutorials to walk you through the following common policy management tasks:
Other updates
- If your policy has a Direction to Pay or Tripartite Agreement in place, you can now view all assigned financial institution contacts, and request changes to those contacts through the portal. Click here to see the instructions.
Note: If you need to change your financial institution, you will need to submit the Consent to the Revocation form to support@edc.ca in order to remove your existing bank before adding the new financial institution. Click here to see instructions for adding a new financial institution.
- The approval process for many routine policy changes during your coverage period have now been automated. That means more changes will be activated immediately without further action from you.
- Instructional text has been added throughout the portal to help you complete policy management tasks.
- We’ve made several improvements to the portal’s interface to make using the portal more responsive and intuitive.
Changes for brokered accounts
- If your insurance policy with EDC is through a broker, you will now be reminded to review the policy offer with your broker before accepting the offer online.
Need help?
Speak to our customer care team weekdays between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET at 1-800-229-0575 or support@edc.ca.