Open cover
A standing contract that covers every shipment you declare under it.
Definition
An agreement under which the insurer covers all shipments falling within an agreed description — commodities, routes, modes, limits — for a period, usually a year. Individual consignments are declared under it rather than separately quoted, and certificates are issued against it. It carries a limit per conveyance and often a limit per location, and the premium is adjusted against declarations.
Why it decides money
For anybody shipping more than occasionally it removes the minimum premium on every consignment, removes the risk of forgetting to insure one, and gives a single wording rather than a drawer of different ones.
Related terms
- Declaration
- Telling the insurer a shipment has moved under the open cover.
- Limit per conveyance
- The most the insurer will pay for everything on one vehicle, aircraft or ship.
- Certificate of insurance
- Evidence that a named shipment is covered under a policy.
More in what is covered
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.