Cargo damage claims

A pallet arrives crushed, a container is opened to reveal water damage, or part of a consignment never turns up. The buyer wants a replacement or a credit note, and the carrier’s first reply is often a standard letter blaming the packaging. A claim left to the ordinary back-and-forth of emails tends to stall, and by the time anyone takes it seriously the evidence has gone and the carrier’s insurer has closed its file.

A cargo claim is won or lost on proof and procedure as much as on the facts. Before anyone argues about the amount, it has to be clear who may claim, against whom, on what evidence and before which court:

• the rules on who may bring the claim — the sender, the consignee or the owner of the goods — and on transferring that right to someone else;
• the rules on surveys and expert inspection, and on keeping the damaged goods and their packaging as evidence;
• the rules on damage that shows only once the goods are unpacked, and on proving it did not arise after delivery;
• the rules on measuring the loss — invoice or market value, salvage, and the cost of sorting or destroying what can no longer be sold;
• the rules on claiming against successive carriers together, and on the recourse they then have against one another;
• the rules on interest, legal costs and the currency in which compensation is paid;
• the rules on jurisdiction and arbitration clauses printed in transport documents, and on where a claim may be heard;
• the rules on settlement, and on what a signed release or an accepted payment gives up.

Our lawyers can support you with this.