Carrier liability issues resolved

Insurance concerns around carrier liability – an issue that reared its head around 18 months ago – appear to have been resolved. “Everyone has accepted the fact that carriers cannot sell insurance unless they are licensed financial services providers,” says Mike Brews, chief operating officer of Associated Marine. The shift in the market has seen the emergence of a range of options. “Either the carrier’s customers – the cargo owners – can be insured through the carrier’s broker,” says Brews. “But it could be time-consuming for the broker to keep in touch with all those clients individually.” Associated Marine has taken a different view, he added. “Our focus is to understand the risks that the carrier takes and what liability they take on in carrying that cargo – so we are effectively insuring the hauliers and any potential liability they may incur in the transport of the cargo. This is especially relevant if they are negligent and their client – the cargo owner – is expecting the carrier to take liability for a loss. “We’ve had to undertake a lot of education among clients, particularly hauliers, so they understand what the boundaries are.” A big part of the business is to educate clients, says Brews. “We don’t want them to fall foul of the financial services board because they didn’t know about it. Our products have been well received and understood and have become a growth area for us.”