Protection with a public ledger.
The incumbents advertise headline caps and never publish what they paid. We publish the pool, the caps, every exclusion and — live — claims filed, paid, denied and days-to-ruling.
What is covered
- Non-payment or short-payment of agreed agent-to-agent charges between two members, on a deal recorded on the platform (RFQ → quote → shipment → settlement).
- Up to US$75,000 per Member company and US$150,000 per Elite company per membership year. Verified (free) listings carry no protection — cover attaches to the paid tiers, and both sides of a covered transaction must be Member or Elite.
- Cross-tier deals are covered at the lower party's cap. Membership of other networks does not reduce cover.
- Claims may be filed from 30 days after the agreed due date and up to 180 days after the shipment's delivery milestone.
- Escrow-funded settlements are paid first from escrow; the pool covers the shortfall.
What is not
- Cargo loss or damage, demurrage, detention, storage, duties and taxes — these are insurance and commercial matters, not payment protection.
- Deals conducted off-platform, or with a company that was suspended or expelled when the deal started.
- Charges not present in the awarded quote and not agreed in the shipment thread before they were incurred.
- Losses from fraud against the claimant by third parties (e.g. diverted bank details) — although the platform's in-app settlement removes that risk.
- Claims under US$500.
How a dispute runs
Claimant files with invoice, awarded quote and the shipment record already on-platform. No documents to chase — they are on the deal.
Respondent has 7 days to reply with evidence. Silence is recorded and costs TrustScore.
A T.I.M.E. mediator reviews the shared thread, milestones and settlement history. Both parties see every note.
A written ruling, published to both parties and reflected in the public ledger the same day.
Upheld claims are paid from the Protection Pool within 5 working days. The respondent owes the pool; non-payment means suspension, then expulsion.
TrustScore weights
Six components, each normalised to 0–1 and weighted. Scores are recomputed nightly from on-platform events and decay when a company goes quiet. A confirmed payment default or a ruling against you is reflected the same day.
- verification25%
- Payment behaviour30%
- responsiveness15%
- Dispute record15%
- Tenure & activity10%
- Peer endorsements5%
| A+ | 900–1000 | Preferred counterparties; escrow auto-release windows shortened |
| A | 800–899 | Full privileges |
| B | 650–799 | Full privileges |
| C | 500–649 | Escrow required on all deals as payer |
| D | 350–499 | Under review; new RFQs limited |
| E | 0–349 | Suspended pending remediation |