Marine Cargo & Hauliers Liability

Marine Cargo insurance is cover for goods being transported by land, sea, rail or air. The term 'marine' can be misleading as it covers any movements, not just by sea.

This type of insurance is used by anyone responsible for items on the move; including hauliers, importers, exporters, wholesalers and manufacturers. Cover is not just for those buying or selling goods; it could also be used by companies moving their own property.

Cover can be just for the replacement cost of the items or can be increased to also include the transportation costs and even increased to include lost profits based upon the final retail value of the items. As items rarely go straight from A-B without stopping, cover can be extended to include items in storage or stopped overnight. Some policies are actually quite limited and will not cover an entire journey, for example they may only cover a sea voyage not the journey to and from the port or whilst waiting at the port, also they may only cover limited events and exclude perils such as theft. When asking for cover then you need to make sure you are covered as per your requirements.

It can be tempting to leave the responsibility of the insurance to someone else, such as a haulier or supplier. This may be the convenient option, but as the above paragraphs demonstrate, marine insurance policies vary considerably, so you need to check that cover provided by a third party gives you what you require, if it does not then you may need to take additional cover to fill the gaps. In addition, if the policy is supplied by a foreign firm then claiming may become problematic - you may be happy to by rice from China but would you want to by your insurance from China? As well as these reasons to take your own policy, the cost savings in taking your own policy can sometimes be considerable.

Policies can be on an annual basis, covering all moves in a year or can be one off covering just a single move. Annual policies will often require an end of year declaration to amend the premium to the correct level based on actual movements.

If you would like further advice on Marine Cargo insurance please contact us.

Act now! Call us on 01905 21681 to get your insurance needs met