Marine Cargo

What is Marine Cargo Insurance:
Marine cargo insurance is a class of property insurance that insures property while in transit against perils consequent or incidental to the navigation of the sea or air or rail/road/inland waterways.

We cover:
The Marine Insurance Policy covers transits by:
Water
Air
Road or Rail
Registered Post or Parcel
Courier
Or any combinations of the above

Who can Insure:
According to Marine Insurance Act 1906 (MIA) section 5 everyone who has an insurable interest can insure their interest under a marine policy.

RISK COVERED AND PREMIUM RATING

Marine Cargo Policy covers loss/damage to property insured due to:
Marine Cargo covers are generally based on Institute Cargo Clauses, viz., ICC (A), ICC (B) and ICC(C). ICC (A) is based on ''All Risks'' while (B) and (C) cover named perils only.

Coverage under the clauses are subject to general exclusions.

Premium rating:
The insurance rate depends on a variety of factors such as the nature of the cargo, scope of cover, packing, mode of conveyance, distance and past claims experience.

Marine cargo insurance policy provides commercial indemnity and it is customary to issue policies on agreed value basis.

Sum Insured in a marine cargo policy is normally based on Actual Invoice Value plus expenses incidental to transit (generally not exceeding 10% of the Invoice value).

Types of Policies

1. OPEN COVER:-
Open cover are commonly used in international trade, specifically by companies involved in high volume trade over long periods of time. Companies purchase this type of coverage because it eliminates the need to negotiate terms of a new policy each time a shipment is made. Open Covers are normally issued for one year, in the form of an agreement to cover shipments by sea/air between two specified terminals or on a worldwide basis.

2. OPEN POLICY:-
Big commercial firms and establishments with huge volume of trade and numerous transactions will find it administratively cumbersome to insure their transits individually. Open policies provide a handy and effective method of providing automatic protection to all consignments of such insured's. Open policies are issued for one year in proper policy form duly stamped, for a sum insured representing aggregate of dispatches likely to take place during the policy period. Premium will be collected in advance and declarations of transits made by the Insured will be recorded and accounted, diminishing the estimated sum insured under the policy. This policy is used to cover indigenous dispatches by rail/road/air/registered post subject to a limit of maximum value per sending or dispatch. The Open policy will cease to operate upon expiry of policy period or on exhaustion of sum insured whichever is earlier. Hence, the insured should ensure that the sum insured is enhanced by additional premium in case of possibility of it being exhausted prior to the expiry of the policy.

Specific Voyage Policy
This policy is valid for a single voyage or transit. The policy will be issued before the voyage starts. The coverage will cease immediately on completion of the voyage. The specific voyage policy must show complete details of the risk. It should contain particulars of conveyance/Vessel name/ Bill of Lading/ Air Way Bill / Consignment Note and date, sum insured terms and conditions of cover, voyage, cargo description etc.