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If you follow Formula 1, you will know the 2026 season has torn up the script.

Lewis Hamilton finally won for Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, a result many had been waiting a long time to see. Yet that was only part of the story. Two rounds, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, were cancelled altogether. And young Italian driver, Kimi Antonelli, had already won five of the opening races, whilst the pre-season favourites were left chasing.

In other words, almost nothing went the way the experts predicted.

Sound familiar? In over 30 years as a trade credit insurance broker, the one lesson that comes up time and time again is that the events which hurt a business most are rarely the ones it saw coming.

The ‘blue chip’ customer who had never skipped a beat. The long-standing client everyone assumed was rock solid. The buyer that looked, on the surface, like a sure thing. Then, without much warning, they ‘hit the wall’ and enter External Administration and the invoices you were counting on simply do not get paid.

Just like a cancelled Grand Prix, you cannot always control which race disappears off the calendar or which debtor gets taken out.

So, how can you, in the driver’s seat, put your business in pole position to avoid risks into the future?

This is precisely what trade credit insurance does. In a nutshell, it is an insurance product that protects your business against the risk of a bad debt, typically covering up to 90 per cent of an insured debt when a customer cannot pay. It does not stop the unexpected from happening. It makes sure that when it does, the result does not take your whole season down with it.

Consider Jane, a timber supplier, owed $200,000 by her largest customer XYZ Timber Pty Ltd. If XYZ enters External Administration unexpectedly, that loss lands straight on Jane’s bottom line. At a thin profit margin, she may need to sell hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra product just to recover that one bad debt. For a modest premium, trade credit insurance turns that catastrophe into a manageable recovery.

A well-run risk strategy, like a well-run race team, comes down to preparation:

• Know your grid: review your customers’ creditworthiness regularly, not just when you onboard them.
• Watch the conditions: monitor your debtors for adverse information so you are not caught by surprise.
• Have a pit crew: lean on a specialist to assess risk and structure cover, rather than going it alone.
• Protect the result: insure the debtors ledger, your largest and most volatile asset.

Hamilton’s Barcelona win was a reminder that even in a season full of surprises, the right preparation and the right machinery still get you to the podium. The teams that win championships are the ones who are ready for it.

So, whilst we cannot predict who will win the next race, we can make sure a single bad debt does not end ours.

Now is the time to ask yourself that question.

For more information and to receive a special offer before 31/10/2026, contact us at [email protected] or 1800 882 820.

Kirk Cheesman
Group Managing Director
National Credit Insurance (Brokers) Pty Ltd