Whether you are the buyer or seller, there are advantages to obtaining your own cargo insurance. One is the freedom to choose the type of cargo insurance that suits your needs and your pocketbook. If you buy your own cargo coverage, you won’t have to rely on (or pay for) insurance selected by someone else. Another advantage is that you can file claims with your own insurer. If a loss occurs, you won’t have to deal with an insurer you don’t know and that is located in another country.[/cws_sc_text]

• Goods Insured. Describes covered property. Typically covers “lawful goods and/or merchandise of every description but consisting principally of” (followed by an explanation). The description should be broad enough to cover any goods you may ship.
• Assured Parties. These are the parties covered by the policy. Your business should be listed as the “assured.”
• Covered Conveyances. These Cargo Insurance are the covered methods of transport. Examples are ships, barges, trucks, trailers, and rail cars.
• Covered Perils. All-risk policies cover losses caused by any perils that aren’t specifically excluded. Named perils policies cover losses caused by the perils listed. Covered named perils typically include fire, assailing thieves, jettisons, barratry, and “perils of the sea.” Barratry means criminal acts committed by the ship’s captain or crew that injure the shipowner. Perils of the sea are events that commonly occur on the water such as storms, winds, waves, sinking, capsizing, and collision with other objects.
• Exclusions Cargo Insurance. All-risk and named perils policies normally exclude losses caused by war, improper packing, abandonment of the cargo, rejection by customs, delay, and inherent vice (a hidden defect that causes property to destroy itself). This is not a complete list.
• Sum Insured. This is the Cargo Insurance amount of insurance purchased on the property. It typically consists of the property’s invoice price, freight charges, and a percentage (often 10 to 20 percent) for profit.

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