Marine cargo insurance covers the movement of goods: anything from raw materials to finished products, transported by ship, car, truck, plane, train or any combination of these transport modes.  It also protects goods held in warehouses and storage facilities.

But why might your business need marine cargo insurance? Here are 10 reasons.

1) If your goods are moving anywhere within the global supply chain, whether you are supplying or manufacturing them, or buying goods to sell on to customers, they face numerous threats enroute to their final destination.  Damage, total loss and theft are just three of these.

2) The average international cargo container has 13-17 different stops/changeovers, at which all of the risks mentioned are amplified.

3) Global cargo theft statistics make it evident just how big a risk theft is, with organised criminal gangs targeting specific loads and dock theft being a way for poorly paid port workers to boost their income, in some parts of the world.

4) Your freight forwarder’s insurance policy would only cover losses if you could prove they were liable and negligent.  If you have your own marine cargo insurance policy, your insurer can pay the claim and then take any action to recover costs from your handler.

5) If your insurance policy was arranged by your supplier, the insurer will be in their country and you would have to pursue a claim there, facing language difficulties, time-zone challenges and the difficulty of dealing with someone with whom you have had no direct relationship.

6) Freight forwarders’ insurance policies pay out a set level of compensation per tonne and no more.  That could be way less than the value of the goods you have lost or had damaged.

7) You could be caught out by not having your goods covered on certain legs of journeys, whilst in storage facilities or warehouses, whilst in compounds, or during movement to or from a port. These are just some of the loopholes you could encounter.

8) If your goods – or others in the same container – are voluntarily sacrificed during an emergency, ‘General Average’ will apply.  All owners of goods will bear a share of the loss and you will need to pay for a General Average Bond to pursue a claim. This is expensive and can take years.  An insurer can handle this on your behalf, if you have your own policy.

9) You can make a marine cargo insurance policy bespoke to your business needs, even adding in cover that will give you a swift payout within 24-48 hours.  This will enable you to quickly reorder or remanufacture goods, without wrecking your cash flow.

10) You can also ask for your cover to have a beneficiary payment provision, so you can access a sum of money with which to incentivise a manufacturer or supplier to put you at the front of the production queue, should your original order be lost, stolen or damaged.  This can be the difference between keeping customers and losing them.

Talk to us today about other benefits of marine cargo insurance and discover how it could help your business recoup losses and keep on trading with the minimum of disruption.  Select a broker, who you wish to work with or who shows marine cargo insurance as an aspect of their expertise, by referencing  the easy-to-use map here.

You can also listen to a podcast on the topic of marine cargo insurance, recorded with Rob Bradley of Bradley Gauntlet Insurance Brokers, here