Tel: 0345 625 0711

Cargo and Goods Insurance

Compare cargo insurance quotes from the wholesale market with a specialist broker

Get indemnity™ cargo insurance

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Compare cargo and goods insurance from £362 annually from leading UK insurers.
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Ensure your domestic and international consignments are insured for their full value.
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Work with a specialist cargo insurance broker to ensure your requirements are covered.
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Benchmark cargo and goods insurance to ensure your business is fully protected.
Arrange a call back
Get a quote

Get indemnity™ cargo insurance

tick
Compare cargo and goods insurance from £362 annually from leading UK insurers.
tick
Ensure your domestic and international consignments are insured for their full value.
tick
Work with a specialist cargo insurance broker to ensure your requirements are covered.
tick
Benchmark cargo and goods insurance to ensure your business is fully protected.
Get indemnity Business Insurance

What is cargo insurance?

Cargo insurance, also known as marine cargo insurance, protects against the physical loss of or damage to goods during transit. Whether that’s importing or exporting from overseas and/or domestic transit, including potential storage.

Freight forwarders and carriers provide very limited liability in the event of loss or damage and maybe able to avoid all liability if there’s an ‘act of god’. Without cargo insurance this can leave your business facing significant cash flow and reputational issues.

The business insurance is designed to offer financial protection if your shipment is lost, stolen, damaged or delayed. As a specialist cargo insurance broker, we can assist you with identifying the most appropriate cover.

    Get indemnity™ cargo insurance

    The shipping industry, which transports +90% of the world’s cargo, is complex, volatile and constantly evolving. With your goods potentially crossing borders by land, air or sea, maintaining control becomes increasingly difficult.

    A wide variety of risks are present wherever your cargo is transported throughout the supply chain. Get indemnity™ cargo and goods insurance can offer protection against all risks of loss of or damage to the goods in transit by road, rail, sea, air or post.

    At get indemnity™ cargo insurance quotes can start at £362 annually or £30.16 monthly. Below we explain why you should consider commercial insurance to protect your goods and how insurers calculate your cargo and goods insurance cost.

    Why does your business need cargo insurance?

    Supply chains like other business assets should be protected, especially when dealing with foreign countries, where weaker logistics infrastructure, damage and theft may pose a greater threat to a successful consignment.

    If the value of your cargo is higher than the amount your freight forwarder is liable for, you should consider purchasing cargo insurance. The liability of carrier is typically based on weight related compensation, therefore much lower than your actual loss. 

    The freight forwarder may offer insurance as an add on, however in the majority of cases will be more costly than having your own policy. Obtain a cargo and goods insurance by selecting Additional Covers and one of our brokers will be in contact.

    How is cargo insurance cost calculated?

    Cargo insurance cost is calculated by understanding: 1) what goods are being transported; 2) will you be using your own vehicles or 3rd party services; 3) the estimated annual value of all sendings within the UK; and to/from Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North America and Rest of the World.

    We will also need to understand cover much cargo insurance cover will be required. Which is calculated by understanding your maximum conveyance within the UK; and maximum conveyance whilst importing or exporting, over the next 12 months. Also, whether cover is required for storage at any specified or unspecified locations.

    Typically combined with commercial combined the amounts of cover available can start as low as £50,000 per conveyance and can then increase to the millions to meet your specific requirements. Please note that some goods that are perceived to be very valuable or dangerous maybe uninsurable.

    Cargo and goods insurance Q&A's

    I don’t need cargo insurance because my carrier is responsible for loss or damage to my goods.

    Carriers mostly contract on the basis that they are only responsible for compensation based on the weight of the goods carried. For example, Road Carriers use Road Haulage Association conditions which limit their liability to £1300 per tonne. It sounds a lot until you entrust to them an expensive high tech item which may be valued at £10,000 but only weighs 2kgs.  The compensation provided by the carrier in this instance would be £2.60.

    With Sea carriage the compensation limit is 2 SDR’s per kilo – about £ 2 per kilo, based on 1 SDR = £1, so about £ 4 compensation for the £ 10,000 piece of high tech gear.

    I don’t need cargo insurance because the overseas seller is responsible for insuring the goods.

    Depending on the terms of sale, the seller may only be responsible until the goods are loaded onboard the overseas vessel only, thereafter the goods being at the buyer’s risk.

    If however, the seller is responsible for arranging insurance under the sale contract for the entire journey, they are only responsible for arranging the minimum level of cover available to them locally and this doesn’t always include accidental damage. Meaning that if the goods arrive damaged, there will be no cover and your client will still have to pay for the goods.

    I don’t need cargo insurance because my goods are safely packed in containers and the goods always arrive in one piece.

    Goods in containers are subjected to huge dynamic forces and goods can break free inside the container and be damaged in heavy seas. Additionally, containers are often lost overboard. Since November 2020 nearly 3,000 containers have been confirmed lost overboard after breaking free in storms

    Additionally, over £95m of cargo was destroyed by fire during 2020-21 and £20bn of cargo is stolen each year in transit.

    If the goods survive all of that, you client may still be landed with a large bill if the carrying vessel gets stranded or the voyage is abandoned to save the vessel. The vessel which got stuck in the Suez Canal created a very large ‘General Average’ bill for cargo owners, estimated to be in excess of 50% of the value of the cargo. Cargo Insurance will pay the bill, but if not, you will be forced to hand over the money before your cargo is released.

    Cargo insurer’s policy terms & conditions

    Insurers terms, conditions and exclusions will vary, so you’ll need to read the cargo insurance policy to ensure the product is adequate to protect your sendings within the UK; and overseas imports/exports.

    It’s worth noting that no cargo insurers within the UK can provide cover to or from sanctioned territories. The UK government website and European Union website provides a list of sanctioned territories.

    At get indemnity™ we can offer you guidance on whether the product is suitable to meet your requirements. The cover can be offered as an off-the-shelf product or be offered on a highly bespoke basis.

    How to compare marine cargo insurance quotes?

    At get indemnity™ cargo and goods insurance can be offered within 48 hours for standard requests. However, we may need to seek an insurers approval and tailor your cover to meet your specific needs. 

    Marine cargo insurance policies are complex contracts and requires a specialist insurance broker to identify the most appropriate cover to ensure your financial interests are protected should loss or damage occur.

    We work with a number of specialist marine cargo insurers to provide flexible and cost-effective cover to meet your needs. Speak to one of our insurance brokers by calling 0345 625 0711 or arrange a call-back at a convenient time.

     

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