Delivery terms
Delivery terms are in fact a number of agreements valid for every transaction or delivery, or else, between your company and your clients. This makes it no longer necessary to negotiate general agreements on delivery- and payment terms, guarantees, debt collection terms and more, for every deal you make. The client has to be notified of the general conditions before the business transaction. When the client accepts, or has no objections against the general conditions, these conditions apply to the business relation between you and your client.
In many cases general conditons can prevent disputes from occuring, because the mutual rights and obligations between parties have been laid down as clear and complete as possible.
Specific demands of credit insurers
Credit insurers (Atradius and Coface amongst them) often have specific demands on the conditons that have to apply between the insured party and its clients. The most important condition to be agreed upon is to deliver under (extended) retention of title. Furthermore it is required that a retention of title has to be agreed upon with the law of the buyers country being applicable.
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Making general conditions
When looking at the specific conditions an insurancce company demands for business transactions, it is important for the insured party to make use of general conditions. In these conditions the specific demands of the credit insurance company can be laid down and, moreover, through these general conditions also other agreements on other subjects can be made.
When you have a credit insurance, or want to start one, it is recommended to have your general conditions checked by a lawyer to see if they meet the demands of the insurance company. If your company does not have general conditions at the start of an insurance it is recommended to have them made as soon as possible.
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The use of general conditions
As mentioned earlier a buyer has to be notified about the general conditions before, or when accepting, a business transaction. This is because there is an information duty laid down in Dutch Law. You can fulfil this obligation in two ways:
1. Regular buyers: You can forward your general conditions to regular buyers with an accompanying letter stating that from now on business will be done according to these general conditions. When the buyer does not object to these conditions they will be applicable on the business relation between the parties from then on. You only have to inform the buyer once and do not have to notify him at future transactions.
2. One off transactions: With One Off transactions it is recommended to send the general conditions with the proposal or the order acceptance. You actually have to send them, so that the client is notified in time. A referral to the general conditions is not enough. A practical solution is printing the general conditions at the back of the proposal or order acceptance.
Last but not least it is important to know that printing the general conditions at the back of the invoice will generally not lead to the conditions being accepted as applicable. The invoice is usually sent after goods have been delivered or services provided, and that means that the client has not been notified in time.
More information
For more information on the subject of how to make and how to use general conditions in combination with your credit insurance you can contact Mr. W.W. de Jonge 020-4080988
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