If the cargo was insured, you should immediately contact your own marine cargo insurers to report the loss/damage to avoid prejudicing your marine cargo insurance policy conditions. Your own marine cargo insurers will handle your claim with you and with any liable party and guide you accordin
Next, and within 3 days per Bill of Lading terms and conditions, you should also contact Shipco Transport, either the origin or destination office, to report the nature and extent of the loss/damage. Follow up in writing your preliminary claim notice, and provide as much information and support documentation as possible about your claim to the relevant Shipco office.
Shipco Transport has within each office globally a nominated Claims Coordinator who will respond to you within 48 hours per our Claims Handling Procedures. Our Claims Coordinator will:
You have the option to let your local Shipco Transport Claims Coordinator liaise on your behalf with our Group Claims Office based in London or you may prefer to liaise directly with our Group Claims Office.
On receipt of your preliminary or formal claim by our Group Claims Office in London you will be assigned a unique cross-reference number, and dependent on the nature, extent of damage, and value of your claim, you will be guided as to any additional information and/or documentation required for proceeding to review by our Group Claims Office and/or our Underwriters based in London.
Please note:
By proceeding for review with our Group Claims Office and/or our Underwriters means your cargo is not insured by you and you wish to proceed under limited liability. Your claim will be reviewed under limited liability per Bill of Lading terms and conditions and International Conventions (i.e. for cargo to/from USA under US COGSA at US$500 per package or the cost of the damaged goods, whichever the lesser).
The onus is on the claimant to support and demonstrate a claim and to the amount claimed. All action should be taken to mitigate any loss/damage by contacting your own cargo insurers to arrange a survey or if the goods are not insured by taking photographs evidencing and supporting your claim for actual physical damage to the goods, and in some cases, by your separating and sorting sound pieces from damaged pieces, repacking, and your advices as to whether salvage can be realized to the damaged pieces.
As soon as possible, sometimes this can be as quickly as 2-3 weeks. However, if our Group Claims Office and/or our Underwriters are having difficulty in collating file documentation from some parts of the world and/or there are surveys involved, you will be kept advised in writing that your claim has not been forgotten but rather still under investigation.
You may contact our Group Claims Office at any time by telephone +44 (0) 1268 582 800, by email: kdanes@shipco.com (Group Claims Manager) or jbarnard@shipco.com (Group Claims Administrator) or in writing to the following address: