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ii. Exclusions
In no case shall the insurance cover:
Loss, damage or expense attributable to wilful misconduct of the
assured;
ordinary / inevitable loss or damage to the subject-matter;
loss, damage or expense caused by insufficiency or unsuitability of
packing or preparation of the goods insured (“packing” shall be
deemed to include stowage in a container or liftvan but only when
such stowage is carried out prior to attachment of this insurance or
by the assured or their servants);
Proximately caused by delay, even it the delay be caused by a risk
insured against;
Inherent vice or nature of the subject-matter insured;
War perils exclusion;
Direct as well as consequential loss caused by strikers, locked-out
workmen or persons taking part in labour disturbances, riots or civil
commotions or by terrorists or any person acting from a political
motive.
iii. Duration of the cover
The insurance attaches from the time the goods leave the warehouse for the
commencement of the transit and continues during the ordinary course of
transit, including customary transhipment, if any-
Until delivery at final warehouse at destination point, or
In respect of transit by rail only or by rail and road, until expiry of 7
days after arrival of railway wagon at final destination railway
station, or
In respect of transit by road only, until expiry of 7 days after arrival
of road vehicle at the destination town, whichever shall occur,
Note: The period of 7 days to be reckoned from mid-night of the day of
arrival of railway wagon / vehicle, as applicable.
b) Clause ‘B’ (Basic Cover)
i. Risks Covered
Physical loss / damage to subject-matter insured caused by:
1 i. Fire
ii. Lighting
iii. Breakage of bridges
2 i. Collision
ii. Overturning of the carrying vehicle
iii. Derailment or accidents of like nature to the
carrying railway wagon / vehicle.
ii. Exclusions
These are identical to those appearing Clause ‘A’, PLUS
Deliberate damage / destruction of subject-matter insured by wrongful act
of any person or persons. (An underwriter, at his discretion, may delete this
exclusion by charging additional premium and making the insurance subject
to the ‘Malicious Damage Clause’).
The duration of cover is identical to the duration as in Clause ‘A’
b) After scrutiny of the relevant documents, settlement of claim shall be proceeded with. If the right
of recovery against the carriers has been prejudiced in any manner, the settlement shall be as
set out in para 9.
a) When consignment is offered for delivery by the carriers in externally damaged condition, the
claimant is normally required to observe the following wherever possible.
i) apply for open delivery before clearance;
ii) lodge a protest in writing under Registered A/D if open delivery is refused by the carriers.
The consignment may be cleared, wherever possible, after an insurance survey;
iii) not to give clean receipt to the carriers in such cases;
iv) file a notice of claim on the carriers within the prescribed time limit.
v) There is no need to verify vehicular documents and driving licence of the driver
irrespective of the cause of loss.
vi) Insured should not be penalized for overloading of the vehicle unless he is privy to
overloading.
3 The statutory time limits for lodging claims and for filing suits are as under :
Negligent Party Time Limit for Lodging claim Time Limit for filing suit.
Major Ports
5 GENERAL
5.1 Should the claimant be unable to produce the original policy or Bill of Lading, which is negotiable
documents, and if it is reasonably established that they are entitled to receive the claim amount, the
claim may be settled with them against a Letter of Indemnity executed on requisite stamp paper.
5.2 a) In cases of claims under open policies where no insurance document is issued, if settlements
have to be effected with and payments have to be made to consignees, a general letter of
authorization to that effect should be obtained from the Insured.
In other cases payments should be made only to the last holder of the original document.
5.3 Payment of fees for cargo discharge supervision should be treated as administrative expenses and
should not be included in the claim. However expenses incurred for tracing a missing cargo should
be treated as claim expenses and same procedure as in 9.2 above for survey fees will apply.
5.4 The dealing office claims section should be alert and advise the policy issuing office suitably in the
following cases.
a) Where repeated claims are being made by the same consignee or shortages from sound cases
are reported on dispatches made by the same suppliers.
b) Where repeated claims are made by the same Insured under declaration stated to have been
omitted to be made under the open policy and requiring acceptance in terms of the Declaration
Cause of the Open Policy.
c) Where repeatedly open delivery is not being taken, thereby prejudicing recovery from carriers.
5.5 All war claims shall be settled only in consultation with the Regional Office/Head Office.
5.6 Marine Insurance being international in character, the practice followed overseas in case of export /
import claims may be given due consideration and claims can be dealt with suitably after recording
the reasons. In other cases the dealing office may use its discretion to effect settlement of Non-
Standard claim as per the guidelines prescribed in this regard. Where the right of recovery from the
carriers/third party is prejudiced the claim amount payable shall be restricted to assessed loss less
amount of recovery prejudiced.
5.7 Where there has been inordinate and avoidable delay in clearance and in consequence the loss has
been discovered after cover under the policy had ceased, but it cannot be clearly established either
way whether the loss had occurred during the currency of the policy or after, benefit of doubt may be
given in favour of the claimant, and reasons recorded in detail.
5.8 Where it can be established that the loss had occurred during the currency of the policy but there is
possibility of aggravation of loss due to delay – deduct probable loss due to aggravation.