Filing a cargo claim
Most of what decides a cargo claim happens in the first hours, before anyone has looked at the policy. If your cargo has already arrived damaged, start with the six actions below.
Six things to do before anything else
Do not give a clean receipt
Note the damage or shortage on the delivery receipt, the CMR or the interchange document before you sign. A clean signature is evidence the cargo arrived sound, and it is the single most expensive mistake at this stage.
Notify in writing, immediately
Tell your insurer or broker as soon as you know. Policies carry notification requirements and carriers carry short time bars — for road carriage under CMR, apparent damage must be noted at delivery and concealed damage within seven days.
Hold the carrier liable in writing
Send the carrier, forwarder or terminal a written notice of claim. Your insurer will pursue recovery from them after paying you, and failing to preserve that right can reduce what you are paid.
Leave the cargo and packing alone
Do not repack, dispose of or repair anything before survey. The packing is evidence — often the evidence that decides whether the loss was a transit peril or a packing failure.
Photograph everything, in order
Container seal and number, doors closed and open, the stow before unloading, each damaged package in situ, then the goods themselves. Wide shots first so the detail can be placed in context.
Mitigate the loss
You have a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage — move wet cargo to dry storage, recondition what can be saved. Reasonable costs of doing so are normally recoverable; sitting on the loss is not.
From notification to recovery
Notification
ImmediatelyYou report the loss with the certificate number, a description and the estimated amount. Nothing about this acknowledges liability — it starts the file.
Acknowledgement
Usually 1–2 business daysThe insurer or its agent opens the claim, issues a reference, and says whether a survey is needed.
Survey
Typically within a few daysFor anything material, the insurer appoints a surveyor to inspect the cargo, the packing and the stow, and to establish cause and extent. Do not unpack or dispose before this.
Documentation
You control this stepThe document set below goes in. Incomplete files are the main reason claims sit — the adjuster cannot quantify what is not evidenced.
Adjustment
Weeks, depending on complexityThe adjuster applies the wording: is the cause an insured peril, does an exclusion bite, what is the insured value, what deductible applies, is there under-insurance.
Settlement
After adjustmentPayment of the agreed amount less the deductible. Where the claim is declined you are entitled to the reason in writing, referenced to the wording.
Recovery
After settlementThe insurer pursues the carrier or terminal in your name — subrogation. This is why preserving the claim against them mattered on day one.
Timings are what these steps typically take, not a service commitment. The insurer and its adjuster set the pace of a claim, and the policy wording sets the deadlines that bind you.
The document set
Not every claim needs all of it, but an adjuster cannot quantify what is not evidenced. Send what you have and say what is coming.
Seven things that reduce what you are paid
| What happened | Effect on the claim |
|---|---|
| Clean delivery receipt signed | Undermines proof that the loss happened in transit, and can defeat recovery from the carrier. |
| Under-insurance | Where the sum insured is below the true value, an average clause can reduce the payment in the same proportion. |
| Cargo disposed of before survey | The adjuster cannot establish cause or extent, and the claim is assessed on what can still be proved. |
| Late notification | Breaches a policy condition and can put the claim outside a carrier time bar, killing the recovery. |
| Packing that was not fit for the transit | Excluded at every clause level, and the most argued exclusion there is. |
| Loss caused only by delay | Excluded even where an insured peril caused the delay. |
| Value or condition misstated when buying | A breach of the duty of fair presentation, which can affect the whole policy rather than just the claim. |
Read the exclusions behind three of these — packing, inherent vice and delay — on the coverage page.
Filing through us
The online first-notice-of-loss form, document upload and claim tracking are being built. Until they are live, email the loss with your certificate number and we pass it to the insurer the same business day.
Email a loss notificationEmailing us notifies us, not your insurer. If your policy names an emergency survey line, call that number as well.
Who decides your claim
Not us. Claims are decided by the insurer or the adjuster it appoints, applying the policy wording. We submit, chase and keep the file — that is the whole of our role, and it is worth knowing before a dispute rather than during one.
If a decision goes against you, ask for it in writing with the wording it relies on. We will tell you who to escalate to and pass your file on.
Our role, in the Terms →The detail behind each step
Deadlines, documents, survey and recovery — each page restates a published rule and links its source.