What is excluded, and where the exclusion is written

Loss, damage or expense attributable to the wilful misconduct of the insured.

In practice — Rare, and rightly hard to prove — the insurer alleging it carries the burden. It is the one exclusion nobody disputes in principle.

Ordinary leakage, ordinary loss in weight or volume, and ordinary wear and tear of the goods.

In practice — Bulk and liquid cargo always arrives a little short. The word doing the work is "ordinary": a trade allowance is excluded, an unexplained shortfall well outside it is a different question.

Bought back by — Trades that expect measurable shrinkage are normally written with a franchise or an excess set above the ordinary loss, rather than by removing the exclusion.

Loss caused by insufficiency or unsuitability of packing or preparation to withstand the ordinary incidents of the insured transit, where the packing was done by the insured or their employees, or before the cover attached. The clauses expressly deem stowage in a container to be packing, and expressly exclude independent contractors from "employees".

In practice — The most argued exclusion in cargo insurance. The test is fitness for the transit actually undertaken, not whether the goods left your dock in good order. Because stuffing a container counts as packing, a badly secured load is a packing failure rather than a transit peril.

Bought back by — Not usually bought back, but the "independent contractors" carve-out matters: where a third-party packer did the work, the exclusion does not bite in the same way.

Loss caused by inherent vice or the nature of the goods themselves.

In practice — Produce ripening, oils separating, metals oxidising, timber staining. The dividing line is whether an external fortuity intervened — and surveyors are instructed on that question specifically.

Bought back by — Specialist conditions for perishable and temperature-controlled cargo address part of it, by responding to machinery breakdown rather than to the nature of the goods.

Loss, damage or expense caused by delay, even where the delay was itself caused by an insured risk — except for expenses payable under the general average clause.

In practice — The exclusion that surprises people during a major disruption. A stranding is an insured peril; arriving a month late because of it is not a covered loss, and neither is the market you missed.

Bought back by — Delay in start-up cover on projects, and rejection or loss-of-market products in some trades. Both are separate contracts, not an amendment to the cargo clauses.

Loss caused by the insolvency or financial default of the owners, managers, charterers or operators of the vessel, where at the time of loading the insured was aware, or in the ordinary course of business should have been aware, that it could prevent the normal prosecution of the voyage. The exclusion does not apply where the contract of insurance has been assigned to a good-faith purchaser of the goods.

In practice — Narrowed in the 2009 editions. It now turns on what the insured knew or ought to have known when the goods were loaded, rather than applying automatically — which matters because carrier failures are usually public knowledge before they are formal.

Deliberate damage to or deliberate destruction of the goods, or any part of them, by the wrongful act of any person. This exclusion appears in (B) and (C) only. It is not in (A).

In practice — Vandalism, arson by a stranger, sabotage and deliberate contamination are covered under Clauses (A) and excluded under (B) and (C). It is one of the least-known differences between the clause levels and one of the most expensive.

Bought back by — The Institute Malicious Damage Clause is the standard endorsement adding it back to a (B) or (C) placement.

Loss directly or indirectly caused by or arising from the use of any weapon or device employing atomic or nuclear fission or fusion, or other like reaction or radioactive force or matter.

In practice — Absolute, in every cargo wording, everywhere in the market.

Loss arising from unseaworthiness of the vessel or craft, or unfitness of the vessel, craft, container or conveyance to carry the goods safely — but, in the 2009 editions, only where the insured is privy to it at the time of loading, or where the loading was done before the cover attached. The insurers waive any breach of the implied warranties of seaworthiness and fitness, and the vessel exclusion does not apply against a good-faith purchaser to whom the contract has been assigned.

In practice — An ordinary cargo owner cannot inspect a ship and the clause reflects that. Where the insured stuffed and sealed the container themselves, unfitness of that container is an entirely different matter.

War, civil war, revolution, rebellion, insurrection or civil strife arising from any of them, and any hostile act by or against a belligerent power; capture, seizure, arrest, restraint or detainment, and the consequences of any attempt at them — piracy expressly excepted; and derelict mines, torpedoes, bombs and other derelict weapons of war.

In practice — Piracy is carved out of the capture and seizure exclusion, so it remains an insured peril under Clauses (A) all-risks cover. That exception is the reason (A) responds to a hijacking where (B) and (C) would not reach it.

Loss caused by strikers, locked-out workmen or persons taking part in labour disturbances, riots or civil commotions; loss resulting from strikes, lock-outs, labour disturbances, riots or civil commotions; loss caused by any act of terrorism by a person acting on behalf of or in connection with an organisation directed towards overthrowing or influencing a government by force or violence; and loss caused by any person acting from a political, ideological or religious motive.

In practice — Note the two limbs. Damage caused by people on a picket line is one thing; loss "resulting from" a strike — cargo stuck in a closed terminal — is another, and neither is covered by the standard clauses.