MARINE CARGO INSURANCE

Whenever cargo is transported to any destination, a wide variety of risks are present throughout the transport chain for the owner of the cargo -shipper-, trader or receiver. These risks range from loss and damage resulting from an accident, an act of God, inappropriate handling, robbery along with many other possible events.

When goods are carried by ship, there are also other risks involved like the risk of Particular Average and General Average, which are often not well known or understood. Often cargo loss or damage cannot be attributed to the person who actually caused it in the transport chain and Insurance cover against political and social risks is also becoming more vital.

The liability of the various cargo service providers – such as freight forwarders and freight carriers – is, as a rule, very limited and may, in some cases be completely absent. The only way to be sure of a rapid and full compensation in case of loss or damage to the cargo, is to work with a partner who is extremely familiar with this environment and can tailor a marine policy to fit your individual needs.

SOPISCO works with first class marine cargo insurance companies and our presence in the field is integrated with the international commercial insurance networks which are specialized in perishable cargoes with particular emphasis on bananas and other fruit. This gives us the capability to carry out risk assessments on all aspects of your transportation needs.

We can offer insurance policies that are specifically focused on your needs when moving perishable cargoes such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, or frozen food. SOPISCO can help cover all modes of transport and combined transports. In addition to the general and special terms and conditions of marine cargo insurance, we can help insure you for a number of extra coverage possibilities. Examples include:

• Damage due to delay
• Possibility of inherent defect (decay)
• Waiver of recourse
• Internal transits
• Costs of removal of debris and destruction
• Costs for recovering transportation
• Costs to the port of origin in case of goods not accepted at a port of destination

Part of this package is the recourse – recovering the damage – against the carrier. Officially, this is the insurers job to whom your “Right of Recourse” transfers once the damage compensation has been paid out. In practice we take care of the recourse against the carrier. Keeping the number of claims compensated down and the amount low, prevents increases to premiums and can even lead to lower premium rates.

Drafting of an individual insurance solution with an optimal price/performance ratio using our represented companies market knowledge and purchasing power.

Developing international insurance programs while taking into account local circumstances and tax and regulatory requirements.

Worldwide access to our represented companies’ marine insurance know-how.

Pro-active and client-focused claims processing by professionals working with us having substantial authority to settle.

Using the information gained from claims processing to complete analyses and evaluations of claims data as a basis for risk management measures.

Educating clients on subjects such as marine insurance, marine risk management, international commercial terms, claims processing, etc.

We can help give you peace of mind no matter which kind of cargo you intend to insure and the origin or destination.

For more Information on how we can help you with your insurance needs contact SOPISCO at: sopisco@sopisco.com