The credit insurance market has received another sucker punch with the news that fringe player Amlin has completely withdrawn from the market.

Originally broken on the Financial Times (FT) web site, Amlin – which is believed to have about five per cent of the market behind the big three Euler Hermes, Atradius and Coface – has decided not to write any new policies for businesses supplying goods to other businesses on credit, due to problems securing reinsurance.

Charles Philipps, Amlin's chief executive told the FT: "Getting reinsurance for credit insurance is becoming more difficult. This is not a big part of our business, and taking a long-term view, we think it will be extremely difficult to make a return."

However, he added in his statement to the FT that the company had struggled to make that part of the business profitable in a market dominated by three main players.

The company is in consultation over what will happen to its credit insurance team, the FT has revealed. It is also believed to be in discussions with other credit insurers to see if they will step in to renew existing cover.

In a trading announcement last month, Philipps said in a statement: “The strength of Amlin's franchise and financial position means that it is well placed to benefit from better underwriting conditions that are expected to materialise during 1 January renewals and thereafter.”

Eddie Pacey, director of credit at distributor Bell Micro, said: "Clearly Amlin found the going tough. It was not a big player in the IT market, but reinsured a lot of its risk."