The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is lobbying the UK government to extend the scheme which guarantees trade credit insurance.

The industry body argued in a letter to business minister Paul Scully that many retailers would be left without coverage when the scheme, originally introduced in May 2020 to blunt the impact of the pandemic on the retail sector, ends.

The scheme offers guarantees to insurers serving retail suppliers, protecting against the risk of non-payment by their customers.

The scheme is set to end on June 30 as it currently stands, the same day as the rent moratorium is also scheduled to end.

The BRC highlighted that insurers generally require a minimum of six months’ worth of trading data to reassess coverage decisions, which is impossible to provide with lockdown regulations affecting normal trading conditions.

The letter also highlighted how lenders could be reluctant to provide retailers, many of which are struggling financially to due to the pandemic, without insurance.

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