'Don't rely on recovery from third parties'

Compromising insurance cover
in the belief that it is “covered”
elsewhere could prove to be
extremely costly, says Bimesh
Ugarchund, director of
independent marine insurance
brokerage Eikos Risk
Applications.
“We are finding that
claims with
shipping
lines are
becoming
very
difficult to
recover as
“chapter
and verse” is
required in
proving the
claim and
the liability
of the line or third parties.
Generally speaking this
process is fraught with legal
arguments and is laborious
and often time-consuming,
particularly in terms of
consolidation and provision
of documents,” he said.
Cutting down on insurance
believing that should
something go wrong on the
voyage the shipping line will
pay out your claim remains
a risky approach,” he said.
“Settling claims on perishables
and fruit in particular can
take a very long
time and it’s
generally not
straightforward
to prove.
Getting to
the bottom of
temperature
deviations
and who is
responsible and
who is liable is
not easy.”
His advice to shippers is to
insure the risks adequately
rather than trying to cut costs
by not insuring and relying
on recovery from the shipping
lines or third parties.