Export finance

Export finance funds the gap between taking an overseas order and being paid for it, and protects you if the buyer does not pay. UK Export Finance, the government’s export credit agency, guarantees part of a bank’s risk so the bank can lend more to exporters, and insures exporters against non-payment where private cover is not available. For most products you apply through your own bank.

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Why exporting needs its own finance

An export order ties up cash for longer than a domestic one. You buy materials, make and ship, and an overseas buyer may pay months later on the terms usual in its market. Some contracts ask for a bond guaranteeing your performance or an advance payment, which a bank issues against your cash or your facilities. A large order can need more working capital than the business has.

Banks lend to exporters as they lend to any business, but the risks of an overseas buyer, a foreign legal system and political events limit how far they will go. UK Export Finance exists to close that gap. Its stated purpose is that no viable UK export should fail for lack of finance or insurance, and it operates at no net cost to the taxpayer.

Most of its products work through your bank. The bank lends or issues the bond, UK Export Finance guarantees part of the bank’s risk, and the bank pays it a fee taken from the margin you pay. The lending decision stays with the bank, and you deal with the bank day to day.

UK Export Finance products for exporters

General Export Facility

A partial guarantee to your bank on trade loans, bond lines and letter of credit lines for general export activity, without tying the facility to individual contracts.

Export Working Capital Scheme

A guarantee to your lender of up to 80% of the risk on working capital for specific export contracts, before and after shipment.

Bond Support Scheme

A guarantee to your bank of up to 80% of a contract bond’s value, so the bank needs less of your cash as collateral.

Export Development Guarantee

A guarantee of up to 80% on large loans, from £25m, for working capital or investment by exporters, not tied to a contract.

Export Insurance

Cover for up to 95% of your loss if an overseas buyer fails to pay or a political event stops the export.

Buyer finance

Buyer Credit Facilities, Direct Lending and Lines of Credit help overseas buyers pay for UK goods and services.

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Who can use it

For the General Export Facility, at least 20% of your annual turnover must have come from UK export sales in any one of the last three financial years, or at least 5% in each of the last three. You need premises and employees in the UK, you pay UK tax, and your goods or services must come from the UK. You do not have to show individual export contracts.

The Export Working Capital Scheme and the Bond Support Scheme are for businesses that carry on business in the UK and have, or intend to have, a contract with an overseas buyer. The transaction has to meet UK Export Finance’s rules on foreign content, bribery and environmental, social and human rights checks, and sanctions on the buyer’s country can rule support out.

Export Insurance needs an established UK business, an overseas buyer in a country UK Export Finance covers, at least 20% UK content in the export, and evidence that private insurers will not provide cover. It does not offer short-term cover, under 24 months, in the EU, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland or the USA, where it treats private cover as readily available.

The main schemes compared

	General Export Facility	Export Working Capital Scheme	Bond Support Scheme	Export Development Guarantee
What it supports	Trade loans, bond and letter of credit lines	Working capital for export contracts	Contract bonds	Working capital and capital spending
Tied to a contract	No	Yes	Yes	No
Size	Up to around £25m	No minimum or maximum	No maximum per bond	From £25m
Term	Up to 5 years	Set with the lender	No minimum or maximum	Up to 5 years, or 10 for clean growth exports
Guarantee to the lender	Partial; percentage not published	Up to 80% of the risk	Up to 80% of the bond value	Up to 80% of the risk

Source: UK Export Finance product guidance on gov.uk, checked 3 November 2026.

Export insurance on an unpaid invoice

Illustrative example

A UK manufacturer ships £200,000 of goods to a buyer in a market where private cover is not available, and insures the contract with UK Export Finance at the maximum 95%. The buyer becomes insolvent and does not pay.

Unpaid invoice: £200,000
Cover level: 95%
Claim paid to the exporter: £190,000
Loss carried by the exporter, before the premium: £10,000

Without cover the whole £200,000 would be lost. Export Insurance does not pay where the buyer withholds payment because of an unresolved dispute, and goods in transit need separate cargo insurance.

Working with your bank

Start with your own bank, or with one of the lenders taking part in the General Export Facility. UK Export Finance has delegated authority to participating banks of up to £10m per exporter, so those banks can decide on facilities up to that size without referring them. For larger needs, UK Export Finance asks exporters to contact one of its regional Export Finance Managers.

Commercial products sit alongside the government schemes. Trade finance pays suppliers before your goods are sold. Invoice finance can advance cash against invoices to overseas customers. A funding search through Swoop can compare trade and invoice finance lenders for a limited company. Currency moves can erase a margin between order and payment, so look at international payments and forward contracts, and at grants for exporting for help with the cost of entering a market.

Each guarantee and policy carries a cost: the bank’s fee and margin on guaranteed lending, and a premium on insurance. Put those costs into the price of the order. An export contract priced without them can lose money even when the buyer pays in full.

Working capital calculator

The days between paying for stock and being paid by customers, and the working capital that gap ties up.

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Questions people ask

What is UK Export Finance?

UK Export Finance is the UK government’s export credit agency, a ministerial department. It guarantees part of the risk banks take when they lend to exporters or issue bonds for them, insures exporters against non-payment, and finances overseas buyers of UK goods and services. Its aim is that no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance.

Can a small business get export finance?

Yes. The Export Working Capital Scheme has no minimum facility size, Export Insurance has no minimum export value, and the General Export Facility is open to businesses that meet its exporter test of 20% of turnover from UK exports in one of the last three years or 5% in each of them. The Export Development Guarantee is for large transactions from £25m.

How do I apply for UK Export Finance support?

For guarantees on loans and bonds, speak to your bank first, because the bank is the party UK Export Finance guarantees and it makes the lending decision. For Export Insurance and for eligibility questions, contact UK Export Finance’s customer service team through gov.uk. Larger requests go to a regional Export Finance Manager.

Does UK Export Finance lend money directly?

Its Direct Lending, Buyer Credit Facilities and Lines of Credit finance overseas buyers to pay for UK goods and services. Support for a UK exporter’s own working capital comes through a bank, with UK Export Finance guaranteeing part of the bank’s risk under the General Export Facility, the Export Working Capital Scheme or the Export Development Guarantee.

What does export insurance cover?

UK Export Finance’s Export Insurance covers up to 95% of your loss if an overseas buyer becomes insolvent, if the contract is terminated before shipment, or if a political event such as new import restrictions or war stops the export. It does not cover non-payment caused by an unresolved dispute, or goods in transit. It is available only where private insurers will not provide cover.

Finance is subject to status and to the lender’s terms. A personal guarantee makes you liable for the company’s debt if it does not repay, and it can be enforced against your own assets, including your home. Nothing here is a personal recommendation.

All business funding

Export finance

Why exporting needs its own finance

UK Export Finance products for exporters

General Export Facility

Export Working Capital Scheme

Bond Support Scheme

Export Development Guarantee

Export Insurance

Buyer finance

Who can use it

The main schemes compared

Export insurance on an unpaid invoice

Working with your bank

Working capital calculator

Questions people ask

Business loans

Trade finance

Grants and support for exporting

Invoice finance

International payments for business

Export finance

Why exporting needs its own finance

UK Export Finance products for exporters

General Export Facility

Export Working Capital Scheme

Bond Support Scheme

Export Development Guarantee

Export Insurance

Buyer finance

Who can use it

The main schemes compared

Export insurance on an unpaid invoice

Working with your bank

Working capital calculator

Questions people ask

Business loans

Trade finance

Grants and support for exporting

Invoice finance

International payments for business

Start a funding search

Cover for a personal guarantee