A claim is won or lost in the first 48 hours, before anyone has written a letter.
01Notice periods — the hard deadlines
| Mode | Apparent damage | Non-apparent damage |
|---|---|---|
| Sea (Hague-Visby) | At delivery, in writing | Within 3 days of delivery |
| Air (Montreal) | At receipt | Within 14 days of receipt |
| Road (CMR, where it applies) | At delivery | Within 7 days |
Miss the notice period and the presumption flips: the cargo is deemed delivered in good order, and you are arguing uphill from the start.
The overall time bar for suit is one year by sea and two years by air. It is a hard bar, not a guideline.
02The first 48 hours
- Note the damage on the delivery receipt before signing. "Received subject to inspection" is not enough — describe what you see.
- Photograph everything: the container exterior, the seal (intact or broken, with the number legible), the door opening before unloading, the stow, the damaged goods in place, and the packaging.
- Do not move or repair anything until surveyed. Mitigating loss is a duty; destroying evidence is not mitigation.
- Appoint a surveyor — through the cargo insurer if there is one. Independent survey is the claim's foundation.
- Send written notice to the carrier and the insurer within the deadline, holding them liable. A short, factual notice preserves the position; details follow.
- Preserve the packaging. Adjusters look at whether packing was adequate for the voyage. The packaging is evidence either way.
03Why carrier liability is not the answer
Carrier liability is capped by international convention:
- Sea (Hague-Visby) — 666.67 SDR per package or 2 SDR per kilogram, whichever is higher.
- Air (Montreal) — 22 SDR per kilogram, unless a higher value was declared and a supplementary charge paid.
At roughly USD 1.30 per SDR, air liability is about USD 29/kg. A 200 kg consignment of electronics worth USD 60,000 recovers around USD 5,800 from the carrier — under 10% of the loss. And that is before the carrier's defences: inherent vice, insufficient packing, act of God, error in navigation, and the rest.
04Cargo insurance — what to recommend
- Institute Cargo Clauses (A) — all risks, subject to exclusions. The default recommendation.
- Clauses (B) and (C) — named perils only, progressively narrower. (C) is very limited cover.
- Standard sum insured — CIF value plus 10%, covering incidental costs and lost margin.
- Watch the exclusions: inherent vice, insufficient packing, delay, and wilful misconduct are excluded under all three sets.
05Running the claim
- Written notice within the deadline, holding the carrier liable.
- Independent survey report establishing cause and quantum.
- Claim documentation: commercial invoice, packing list, B/L or AWB, survey report, photographs, repair or replacement quotations, and the calculation of loss.
- Submit to the insurer; the insurer pursues the carrier by subrogation.
- Track the time bar. If settlement is not agreed as the one-year mark approaches, obtain a written time extension or issue proceedings.
Our role is to preserve the client's position: notice on time, evidence intact, documents complete. We are rarely the paying party, but we are always the one who determines whether the claim is winnable.