Marine Insurance

A Marine Cargo insurance policy is necessary for manufacturers, transporters and companies who are moving goods from one place to another. A marine cargo insurance policy offers coverage for transit using rail, land, sea and air transport. This insurance policy indemnifies losses of goods against any unforeseen incident such as a collision of the vehicle, overturning, etc. that could arise during transition of the goods from one to place to the other.

Marine Insurance Act 1963 was introduced in August, 1963 to regulate the transactions involved in marine insurance business. The business includes marine hull, cargo and freight. The assured and the voyages undertaken are subject to certain clauses that define inception and termination of insurance covers including the perils that are covered under the Act. Marine Insurance is a contract under the Marine Insurance Act 1963 created to protect the interests of the insured in case of any marine losses, paid by the insurer.

• Cover for most commercial arrangements - Marine cargo insurance covers several commercial arrangements. The most common forms of contract are FOB (Free on Board), C & F (Cost and Freight) and CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight). If the contract type is FOB or C&F, the buyer is generally responsible for the insurance. And in the case of CIF, the seller is accountable for the insurance.
• Multiple insurance structures - Based on how frequently you need marine insurance you can select a structure. These range from Annual Turn Over Policy (ATOP), Specific Voyage, Open Policy, and Annual Policy. The annual or sales turnover insurance is a simple way to insure your yearlong marine insurance requirements in one policy.
• Progressive levels of cover - Marine Insurance policy covers all risks included under Institute Cargo Class (A), (B) & (C). The Institute Cargo Class (C) provides limited risk cover as compared to Institute Cargo Class (A) that provides maximum risk cover.

We offer all types of marine insurance.

• Export and import marine insurance: Cover multiple export and import shipments and damage resulting from named and unnamed perils.
• Inland transit insurance: cover all domestic transits covered including sales and purchases
• Marine hull insurance: coverage for the hull, engines, machinery of the vessel or ship
• Multimodal transport operator insurance: cover liabilities such as physical loss or damage to the cargo and errors & omissions, fines, and duties
• Specific transit insurance: covers risks to goods for a particular journey/voyage.
• Sales turnover policy: covers all legs of transactions including sales, purchases and internal transfers.

Under a marine insurance policy, you’ll get coverage for below details:

• Damage to cargo or vessel due to fire, explosion, sinking, stranding during the journey
• Expenses incurred due to collision, overturning or derailment of land conveyance
• Compensation for expenses incurred if the cargo is discharged from port of distress/disturbance
• Damage incurred due to natural calamities such as earthquake or lightning
• Expenses for survey fees, forwarding expenses, costs of reconditioning and legal charges
• Jettison and washing overboard expenses
• Total loss of package due to overboard or droppage during loading or unloading

Note: This is just an indicative list and your policy copy will contain details of all the inclusions as part of the marine insurance bought.

The following are not covered by any of the institute cargo clauses –

• Willful act of negligence and misconduct
• Use of inadequate packaging material
• Ordinary leakage or loss in weight of the goods
• Financial default or insolvency

Note: This is just an indicative list, and your policy copy will contain details of all the exclusions as part of the marine insurance bought.

A lot of insurers in India provide marine cargo insurance policies. The best way to buy marine insurance is to compare different insurances online based on your requirement. We can help you select marine insurance that will suit your business, just reach out to us by submitting your details or call us on our helpline number.
Some of the top insurance companies that provide marine insurance are: ICICI Lombard, HDFC Ergo, National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and Tata AIG.

Warranties imply that the assured must abide by certain conditions under the Marine Insurance Act. If there is a breach in the warranty, the contract shall be terminated. The four types of marine insurance warranties are:

• Express Warranty
• Implied Warranty
• Seaworthiness of Ship
• Legality of Venture

Below are the steps that have to be followed to claim for a marine insurance in India:

• Intimate the claim to the insurance company by providing the policy number of your marine insurance policy
• Submit necessary documents as asked for by the insurance company
• After successful filing of the claim, the claimant will receive a URN/claim number, that will be used for further intimations and transactions
• Insurance company surveys the damage and based on the survey reimburses for the damaged goods/services

Below are the documents required to claim for a marine insurance policy in India

• Original invoice of the goods transported
• Damage certificate
• Letter of subrogation
• Photographs for proof of damage
• NEFT mandate – canceled cheque or bank passbook copy of the claimant