Pay-outs rose 7 percent from a year earlier after several high-profile British insolvencies in 2017, including Monarch Airlines and retail supplier Palmer & Harvey, ABI said in a statement.

Trade credit insurance covers the risk of non-payment for goods or services.

"UK firms continue to face challenging trading conditions at home and abroad", the ABI said, citing the collapse this year of construction and services group Carillion, Toys 'R' Us and electronics chain Maplin.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Edmund Blair)