Institute Cargo Clauses (B)
Named perils, including water damage and washing overboard
A closed list: your loss is covered only if it matches a named peril. Damage nobody can attribute to a listed cause is not covered, however genuine it is.
What it covers
- Fire or explosion
- Stranding, grounding, sinking or capsizing
- Overturning or derailment of land conveyance
- Collision of the vessel or conveyance
- Discharge of cargo at a port of distress
- Earthquake, volcanic eruption or lightning
- General average sacrifice, jettison, washing overboard
- Entry of sea, lake or river water into the vessel, container or place of storage
- Total loss of any package lost overboard or dropped in loading or discharge
What it does not cover
- Theft and pilferage — a common and expensive surprise
- Ordinary handling damage and breakage with no listed cause
- Rainwater and freshwater damage that is not vessel ingress
- Non-delivery and mysterious disappearance
- Everything in the (A) exclusion list also applies
War and strikes can be bought back as separate Institute clauses — see add-ons. Delay, inherent vice and insufficient packing cannot.
When this is the right choice
Cargo that is robust and not theft-attractive but does have water exposure — packaged bulk, resin, fertilizer, some steel.
Compared with the others
All risks of loss or damage, except what is excluded
Major casualty only — the shortest list
Understanding ICC (B)
Institute Cargo Clauses (B) sits between the all-risks (A) cover and the catastrophe-only (C) cover. It is a named-perils clause: it lists the events it responds to, and a loss is covered only if it can be tied to one of them. Compared with (C), the important additions are water — entry of sea, lake or river water into the vessel, container or place of storage — and the total loss of any package lost overboard or dropped during loading or discharge, plus earthquake, volcanic eruption and lightning.
That makes (B) meaningfully broader than (C) for a sea voyage, where water ingress is a real and common cause of loss. What (B) still does not cover is the category that surprises shippers most: theft, pilferage and non-delivery are not named perils, so a stolen or missing consignment is uninsured under (B) however genuine the loss. Ordinary handling damage and breakage with no listed cause are out too, as is rainwater or freshwater damage that is not vessel ingress.
Because of this, (B) is a defensible choice for cargo that is physically robust, low in unit value and not attractive to thieves, but which does have water exposure — packaged bulk commodities, resin, fertilizer, and some steel products are the typical candidates. For branded, high-value or theft-exposed goods, the gap on theft usually makes (B) a false economy: the premium saving over (A) is small next to the exposure it leaves open.
How a loss resolves under ICC (B)
Sea water enters a container through a failed door seal and damages packaged resin.
Covered under (B): water ingress into the container is a named peril. This is the main reason to choose (B) over (C).
Three cartons of a consignment are stolen at a transhipment hub.
Not covered under (B): theft and pilferage are not named perils. The same loss would be covered under (A).
The vessel is stranded and the cargo is undamaged but arrives a month late, missing its market.
Not covered: loss caused only by delay is excluded at every clause level, including (B), even when an insured peril caused the delay.
Common misconceptions
- "(B) is just a slightly cheaper (A)."
- It is a different structure. (A) covers everything but the exclusions; (B) covers only what it names, and theft is not on the list.
- "Water damage is covered, so my cargo is safe from wet."
- Only vessel/container ingress is named. Rainwater through an open door, or condensation, is not — that needs (A).
What would ICC (B) cost on your cargo?
The rate factor above is only one term in the calculation — commodity, route, mode and deductible move the number just as much. Price it against a real shipment and see all three clause levels side by side.
Rate a shipment at ICC (B)This page summarises the Institute Cargo Clauses (B) family in plain language. It is not the wording, and insurers issue amended and market-specific versions. The certificate, policy schedule and attached clauses issued to you govern your cover and prevail over anything here. Nothing on this page is a recommendation that ICC (B) is suitable for your cargo — see the Terms for our role.