What a claim file has to contain
Most cargo claims are slow for one reason: the file arrives incomplete and then arrives again. This is the list, and the part of it that can only be created before the damaged goods are moved.
The core file
- Commercial invoice
- Establishes the value of the goods and, with the sum insured, whether the consignment was fully declared.
- Packing list
- Ties packages, weights and marks to the transport document, and shows what should have been in each carton.
- Transport document
- Bill of lading, air waybill or CMR consignment note. It names the carrier, the terms of carriage and the liability regime, and it is where the recovery starts.
- Certificate of insurance
- The cover it evidences, the clause level, the sum insured and the deductible.
- Delivery receipt
- Clean or claused. This single document decides how hard the recovery against the carrier will be.
- Notice to the carrier
- Written notice holding the carrier liable, sent inside the convention window. Keep the proof of sending.
- Survey report
- Where a surveyor was appointed. Establishes extent, probable cause and what can be salvaged.
- Statement of claim
- The amount claimed and how it was arrived at — repair, replacement, salvage proceeds, disposal cost.
Extra evidence, by what went wrong
The loss types below are the ones this platform records against. Each needs something the core file does not contain.
Shortage on outturn
Less arrived than was shipped. Needs the tally and the packing list to prove.
- Tally or weighbridge records at each handover
- Packing list with piece counts
- Photographs of the stow as packed
Theft or pilferage
Covered under ICC (A) only. A police report is expected.
- Police or authority report
- Photographs of the seal and container number
- Seal log or record of seal numbers at each handover
Temperature deviation
Reefer breakdown or excursion. The datalogger download is the evidence.
- Datalogger download for the whole transit
- Pre-trip inspection record for the unit
- Loading temperature record
Contamination or taint
Often from neighbouring cargo. Cause has to be established by survey.
- Laboratory analysis
- Previous cargo record for the unit
- Cleaning certificate for the unit
General average
The carrier has declared GA and wants a contribution or a bond.
- Average bond and guarantee
- Correspondence from the average adjuster
- Valuation of the consignment at destination
Every evidence type we record
The register on a claim in the workspace accepts these kinds. Recording where a document is held is useful even when the document itself is somewhere else.
- Photographs — damaged goods
- Photographs — stow and container
- Photographs — seal and container number
- Delivery receipt with exceptions noted
- Commercial invoice
- Packing list
- Bill of lading / AWB / CMR
- Survey report
- Police or authority report
- Written notice holding the carrier liable
- Temperature / datalogger download
- Repair or salvage quote
- Other
What cannot be recreated
A claused delivery receipt, photographs of the stow before the doors closed, and the damaged goods themselves in the state they arrived. Everything else on this page can be obtained again later. These three cannot, and they are the three that decide both the claim and the recovery.
The six photographs to take every time →Common questions
- What documents do I need for a cargo insurance claim?
- At minimum: the commercial invoice, the packing list, the transport document, the certificate of insurance, the delivery receipt showing whether damage was noted, a copy of the written notice holding the carrier liable, the survey report where one was made, and a statement of the amount claimed with your calculation.
- Can I dispose of the damaged goods before the survey?
- No. Do not move, repack or dispose of damaged cargo until the surveyor has seen it, unless you are told otherwise in writing. Once the evidence is gone, neither the claim nor the recovery against the carrier can be rebuilt.
- What if I cannot produce one of the documents?
- Say so early rather than delaying the file. Adjusters work with what exists; a gap disclosed at the start is a question, and a gap discovered late looks like something else.
InsuranceScanner is an insurance intermediary, not an insurer — see the Terms for our role. Nothing here is a personal recommendation that a particular cover, sum insured or deductible is suitable for you. Where anything on this page conflicts with the certificate, policy schedule or wording issued by an insurer, that document governs.