Del credere

[Italian, Of belief or trust.] An arrangement in which an agent or factor—an individual who takes possession and agrees to sell goods for another—consents for an additional fee to guarantee that the purchaser, to whom credit has been extended, is financially solvent and will perform the contract.

As the result of a del credere agency, the del credere agent becomes a surety of the purchaser. If the purchaser defaults, the agent is responsible to the principal for the outstanding amount. A del credere commission is the extra fee paid to the agent for such promises.

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DEL CREDERE, contracts. A del credere commission is one under which the agent, in consideration of an additional premium, engages to insure to his principal not only the solvency of the debtor, but the punctual discharge of the debt; and he is liable, in the first instance, without any demand from the debtor. 6 Bro. P. C. 287; Beawes, 429; 1 T. Rep. 112; Paley on Agency, 39.
     2. If the agent receive the amount of sales, and remit the amount to the principal by a bill of exchange, he is not liable if it should be protested. 2 W. C. C. R. 378. See, also, Com. Dig. Merchant, B; 4 M. & S. 574.