Payment protection
Neutral Air Partner has established a payment security guarantee plan (SAFE) for the benefit of its members .The enrolment to the SAFE plan, is mandatory for all air partners and associate members .The SAFE plan works in conjunction with the NAP Credit alert system.
Credit Alert is a customized intranet tool, where members are able to report their over 60 day’s receivables and to upload statements and email correspondence to the NAP credit control database. After reporting all information, members are entitled to claim their receivables.
Overview
Neutral Air Partner (NAP) is a brand of Executive Networks Limited incorporated in Hong Kong. NAP has established a payment security plan (SAFE) for the benefit of its members. The enrolment to the SAFE plan is mandatory for all partner and associate members. The SAFE plan works in conjunction with the NAP credit alert system. NAP Credit Alert is a customized web tool, where all members must report their past due receivables and to upload statements of accounts, and email correspondence to the NAP credit control database. After reporting all information and gets approved by NAP management, members will be entitled to claim their receivables through the SAFE plan, in case of failure to receive payment by a NAP member.
The SAFE plan was established with the aim to provide solutions on payment issues of bankruptcy, insolvency, as well as bad – delinquent debts from/to other NAP members.
SAFE plan can be used at the discretion of NAP for other situations, and to guarantee up to USD 25,000 for each year of membership, with a maximum of USD 100,000 per year for partners and associates that have been members of NAP for 4 years or more.
Conditions
- The maximum amount that will be paid out in any single incident is an aggregate amount of USD 25,000 per year for each year of membership to maximum of 100,000 USD to a member with over 4 years of membership. Example: a member that belongs 2 years to NAP will be subject to a 50,000 Maximum paid out, a member with one year 25,000 USD, and a member with 4 years or more, a maximum of 100,000 USD paid out.
- The SAFE plan will pay out the total combined number of unpaid invoices amongst the network members, to a maximum of 250,000 USD per annum on eligible claims through the NAP credit alert system. If the total combined eligible claims are over 250,000 USD within a year, the total paid out to the members will be divided proportionally.
- A member is eligible to receive payment from the SAFE plan, by agreeing to sign any future recoveries of the debt over to the NAP management (Executive Networks Limited) and to fully cooperate with NAP management in instituting collection and/or legal recovery of such debt.
- A member is eligible to receive payment from the SAFE plan, by reporting its receivables not before 60 days, and not after 90 days, through the NAP credit alert system. Failure to do so, the claim will be treated as ineligible, and as result, member will not be able to receive payment through the SAFE plan.
- The SAFE plan will pay out members providing a credit limit agreement is in place between 2 members with a maximum limit of 25.000 USD
- The SAFE plan will not cover any single invoice over 15,000 USD per shipment, unless a written confirmation of credit acceptance, has been given by the NAP management. Such a transaction is considered a special shipment, and can be subject to special conditions and agreements, deadlines, deadfreight or possible disputes.
- The annual SAFE plan fee of USD 500, and the aggregate amount of coverage, as well as the plan’s terms and conditions are subject to change with no further notice.
- Claims are considered eligible if and only a valid credit alert has been posted and the SAFE plan procedure has been followed properly. The non-reporting of delinquent debts will make claims ineligible for recovery under the SAFE plan.
- Claims are considered eligible, when invoiced under the company name that was signed on the initial NAP Membership registration agreement at the time of membership. Further, only invoices relating to the offices/cities that are registered will be eligible to participate in this fund (i.e. if a company only registers its New York office but has several other offices in USA, only invoices covering freight originating and routed from their New York office will be considered as eligible.). Those members who have offices not registered can become eligible for future access to the SAFE plan by registering their branch offices at a fee of USD 750.00 per each additional station and be part of the fund process. The documents that will be taken into consideration will be the email correspondence, invoice, and Airway bills. When an Airway bill is being consigned to a branch of a member that is not enrolled into the SAFE plan but the invoice is billed to the HQ it might not be considered after investigating all the circumstances of a possible fraud.
- Claims will only be eligible, if incurred when invoiced while the claimant is a NAP member i.e. from date of enrollment (funds received by NAP) on a “go-forward” basis until termination of membership. If any of the claiming members are also member of another logistics network with a financial security guarantee plan, or they have an external private insurance that covers all or part of the debts , the claim against the SAFE plan will be reviewed after payments made by the other network or the insurance company . Failure to report enrollment to other network’s financial security guarantee plans or an active private bad debt insurance can be considered a possible fraud and members will not be covered by the SAFE plan.
- Claims will only be considered if an invoice is issued no more than 7 working days of shipment’s departure or arrival.
- It must be fully understood that the SAFE plan’s mechanism is only against bad/delinquent debts and against bankruptcy/insolvency, rather than operational errors and valid for transportation of general cargo. Claims will not be accepted – unless approved by the NAP Management – to cover non-conformance with service levels, shipments of personnel effects, perishables , time critical, deadline arrivals , temperature control, VAL , live animals ,events and exhibitions, dangerous goods ,shippers/consignees connected with Internet mail services such as E-Bay, lost or damaged cargo, invoices covered by member’s private insurance coverage, 3rd party damages, currency exchange fluctuations, goodwill payments, illegal transactions, legal fees, interest, etc.
- SAFE plan adopts Force Majeure policy that frees NAP from a liability or obligation of any kind, when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond our control, such as war, sanctions, strikes, riot, trade bans and restrictions, crime or an event described by the legal term “Act of God” (such as hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes, pandemics ,volcanic eruption).
- Disputes are investigated and are due to an evaluation and mediation procedure during the annual NAP general conference. Only two NAP founding members chosen by the NAP management are entitled to act as mediators. Mediators and NAP management will carry one vote each (total three votes) in order to take a decision on a specific dispute, unless a settlement has been successfully agreed among the two parties during the evaluation and mediation procedure. Disputes must be reported no later than 60 days for a member to be legible to an investigation, evaluation, and mediation process. Unless approved by the discretion of NAP management, claims over disputed invoices between two members are not eligible for payment through the SAFE security plan.
- Payments into the SAFE plan are not refundable to participants upon leaving the organization.
- The scheme is governed by Hong Kong and members agree to submit themselves to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Hong Kong court. Executive Networks Limited (as Neutral Air Partner) reserves the right of final interpretation for the content hereinabove.
- SAFE plan is not an insurance product, or a service related with insurance products or insurance brokerage. SAFE is a payment and credit risk monitoring tool which is offered as a value-added service to the members of NAP, aiming to reduce member’s credit risk when conducting business within the network.