DPU — Delivered at Place Unloaded
At the named destination, once the goods are unloaded from the arriving conveyance.
The insurance position
Nobody is obliged to insure under DPU. The rule allocates cost and risk, and stops there. Whoever bears the risk over a leg of the journey is the party with something to lose on it.
The seller carries the whole journey and the unloading operation, which is a distinct and material exposure for heavy or awkward cargo.
Where risk passes
At the named destination, once the goods are unloaded from the arriving conveyance.
Where cost passes
Same point, including the unloading.
What a broker would tell you
The only Incoterms rule that requires the seller to unload. Make sure the cover does not terminate on arrival at destination, because under DPU the riskiest minute is after arrival.
The mistake that gets made
Treating DPU as the old DAT. It was renamed in 2020 and broadened from "terminal" to any place, so the delivery point is now whatever the contract names.
Who is exposed
The seller carries the whole journey and the unloading operation, which is a distinct and material exposure for heavy or awkward cargo.
Where a seller has sold on terms that put the risk on the buyer and payment has not been received, seller's interest cover is the usual fallback — it responds when the buyer turns out not to have insured.
Seller's interest cover →Other rules for any mode
Sources
Incoterms® is a registered trademark of the International Chamber of Commerce. This page summarises the insurance consequences of the rule; the ICC publication is the rule.
This page summarises the instruments above. It is not the wording, and it is not legal advice. Where a summary conflicts with a convention text, a policy wording or a certificate, that document governs.
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.