Equipment Finance
EQUIPMENT FINANCE
Asset and Equipment Finance
Equipment finance or Asset Finance is the financing of mobile equipment, where the lender takes security over the actual asset being financed e.g. mining equipment, rigs, ships, aircraft or rolling-stock.
Since the financier has security over the asset, it can usually enforce this security and use the proceeds to repay the debt unless it is unable to take possession of the asset. Consequently equipment finance requires the simplest form of Political Risks Insurance, Repossession Insurance, which covers the lender’s inability to repossess the asset.
A classic example is lease of an aircraft to a foreign airline. If the airline defaults on its lease payments, the lender will seek to repossess the plant and equipment; if it is prevented from doing so by the host government and such refusal to permit repossession lasts for a period in excess of an agreed waiting period (usually 180 days), then the Political Risks Insurance policy would pay a claim.
Meyseys offers Credit Insurance on leases of equipment to commercial and governmental entities, which includes cover for commercial default in addition to default due to Political Reasons.
The maximum tenor for PRI available from the private insurance market is currently 15 years (with greater liquidity up to 10 years). CRI is usually provided for tenors of no more than 5 years, although some insurers may consider providing cover for 7 years or longer.
PRI is generally available for all countries provided they are not subject to sanctions (whether by the U.N., the U.S.A., the E.U. or the national government of the relevant insurer); insurance premiums will reflect the relevant sovereign risk, the tenor of the policy, the record of previous claims and recoveries in the relevant country, the nature of the underlying asset / project, and the current use of the insurer’s available country limits.
There are many insurance companies and Lloyds syndicates that underwrite PRI and CRI policies; those with a Standard & Poor's credit rating of A+ or better (or equivalent) are usually acceptable for policies with long tenors, and a rating of A may be acceptable for tenors of up to 3 years.