Cargo claims: the sequence that decides whether a loss is recovered

First hour: stop, record, reserve

The receiving team should hold the consignment rather than moving it into stock, photograph the outer packaging, the seal, the vehicle or container interior and the damage itself, and record piece counts against the transport document. Any discrepancy or visible damage is written onto the delivery document before the driver leaves, with the driver's signature or a note that signature was refused. Where the goods are in a container, a photograph of an intact seal alongside a photograph of the seal number on the paperwork answers a surprising share of later disputes. Damaged goods should not be destroyed, repaired or sold on until the insurer and the carrier have had the opportunity to inspect, unless keeping them creates a safety or contamination problem. Losing the physical evidence typically converts a straightforward indemnity into an argument about what the claimant can prove.

Notice: whom to tell, in what form, and how quickly

Each carriage regime attaches a window for complaint, shorter for apparent damage than for damage discovered on unpacking, and treats an unqualified receipt as evidence that the goods arrived as described. Notification should go in writing to the contracting carrier, and where a chain is involved, to the performing carrier as well, describing the general nature of the loss without committing to a figure that later has to be revised downwards. A parallel notification goes to the insurer under the policy's own conditions. The two are not alternatives. Cargo wordings generally impose a duty on the assured to preserve and exercise rights against carriers and bailees, so notifying the insurer while letting the carrier's time bar expire can itself prejudice the insurance claim.

Mitigation and the survey

There is a standing duty to take reasonable steps to limit further loss: separating wet cartons from sound stock, restoring temperature control, recovering what can be salvaged. Reasonable costs incurred in doing so are commonly recoverable, provided they are documented as incurred for that purpose rather than absorbed into ordinary operating costs. Where value or complexity justifies it, an independent surveyor appointed promptly produces the single most useful document in the file. A survey report fixes cause, extent and salvage value while the evidence is fresh, and its neutrality is what makes it persuasive to a carrier that has every reason to doubt the claimant's own account.

Quantifying without overstating

A claim is built from the commercial invoice value of the affected goods, the freight and duties paid in respect of them where the regime allows recovery, and the reasonable costs of mitigation, less any salvage realised. Consequential losses such as lost sales, production downtime or customer penalties are typically outside what a carriage regime pays, however real they are commercially, and including them without explanation weakens the credible part of the claim. A disciplined claim states the recoverable heads clearly, evidences each with a document, and flags separately any element being advanced on a different legal basis. Carriers and their insurers settle credible files far faster than inflated ones.

Choosing the respondent and protecting the deadline

The party to pursue depends on who contracted to carry, who actually performed the leg, and whether the applicable regime allows a claim against a successive or performing carrier as well as the contracting one. Where the point of loss is unknown, a multimodal document's unlocalised-loss provision may point at a particular regime. Warehouse keepers, terminals and handlers can be respondents in their own right where the loss happened in their custody. Throughout, one date governs everything: the outer period for bringing suit. It should be recorded when the file opens, calculated on a conservative view of which regime applies, and protected by a written time extension agreed with the respondent well before it expires.

Frequently asked questions

Should we sign the delivery note if we have not counted the goods yet?

Sign it with a reservation recording that the consignment has been received unchecked and that piece count and condition are subject to verification. An unqualified signature supports a presumption that the goods arrived as described, which is exactly what a later claim has to overcome.

Can we throw away damaged goods once photographs are taken?

Not before the carrier and insurer have had a reasonable opportunity to inspect, unless there is a safety, hygiene or contamination reason to act sooner. Disposal also destroys the salvage value that would otherwise reduce the claim, so it can cut both ways.

Is it worth claiming when the capped recovery is small?

Often yes, because the claim preserves the recourse rights an insurer will expect to have been protected, and a pattern of documented claims is the evidence base for renegotiating rates or replacing a supplier. The decision is commercial rather than purely arithmetic.