Insurance Claim Management
Cargo Damage claims are also known as freight claims, shipping claims or transportation claims. A cargo damage claim is a legal demand by a shipper, consignee, or product owner to a carrier in order to obtain financial reimbursement for the lost or damaged shipment. Does your organization have the legal knowledge and time to process a claim? this is where e-visible team can help you as they process claims on a daily basis for many customers in Sri Lanka.
There are four types of freight claims:
– Damage claims are relatively common and occur when cargo has damage that is visible upon delivery.
– Loss claims occur when cargo is picked up, but never delivered because it was lost during transportation.
– Shortage claims occur when only part of your cargo is delivered because sections were lost, and pieces are missing.
– Concealed claims happen when part of the cargo is discovered to be damaged or missing after the driver leaves.
The process to resolve a cargo claim can take anywhere from one to four months, therefore, the quicker you are able to get started on your claim the better.
ASSESS AND RECORD DAMAGE OR LOSS
We advise the steps you should take to mitigate the extent of loss or damage to your cargo. For example, if water damage has occurred, provide adequate treatment and segregate unaffected equipment. We make sure to record the name/reference (if applicable) of the cargo and a description of the damaged or lost property. By doing this we will have an idea about the extent of loss or damage with a preliminary cost estimate, whenever possible. We also make sure that you obtain necessary documentation on timely manner like WIC Forms etc.
FILE A CARGO DAMAGE CLAIM
In order to file a cargo damage claim, we make sure the following documents will be obtained
- Bill of lading or other contract carriage documents.
- Commercial invoice/packing list.
- Copies of any loading or discharge receipts/reports (over, short and damaged/ discrepancy report) and delivery receipts.
- Copy of claim letter to third parties holding them responsible (as applies)
- Pictures of the damaged freight (if you have them)-
- Proof of the value of the commodities lost or damaged
- Coordination between suppliers / carriers / insurance company / warehouses / cargo servers
- Process payments / Sell for salvage or destroy the damaged cargo
SUBMIT THE CLAIM ON TIME
Your claim must be delivered to the carrier within the time period specified in the carrier’s contract (usually 9 months from delivery). According to Department of Transportation regulations, the carrier should acknowledge the receipt of the claim and assign it a claim number within 30 days. While the time it takes to resolve a claim varies, the claim should be paid or disallowed within 120 days
Talk to one of our consultants
Akila Vandabora
Consultant