Marine insurance provides compensation in case of uneventful collateral damage to the consignment during transit. In addition to that, it covers the goods and cargo the ship is conveying. Hence, cargo insurance is a category under marine insurance. Further, it covers marine casualty, marine insurance, and hull vandalism. Thereby, irrespective of the purpose of the ship, it is necessary to incur marine insurance policy.
Advantages of Marine Insurance in India
Transportation globally occurs through air, road, rail, and water. However, for overseas bulk transportation, the sea is the most common choice of carriage. Despite the ease in carrying bulk load via sea, it raises a lot of caution due to its unpredictable natural accidents. Thereby, to avoid facing loss because of the unanticipated attributes, Marine Insurance is significant. Also, it provides a variety of benefits for the shipping company along with the transporter.
Few benefits associated with Marine Insurance
- Comprehensive coverage: It provides insurance against all marine threats and thus offers compensation for the same.
- Flexibility: The policy provides an array of options depending on the budget and necessities of the insuring company.
- Claim Survey and Settlement Aid: The settlement and claim survey is attainable throughout the world.
- Extension of Coverage: Alignments of the policy to concur additional coverage for factors like raids, riots, etc.
- Customized: Policy can be altered to achieve the needs of the customers.
Marine Insurance inclusive
The insurance covers the following situations:
- In case of fire, explosion, the sinking of the cargo during the transportation.
- Collision, overturning and also derailment for land carriage.
- Discharge of carriage due to anguish or commotion.
- General sacrifice retrieves charges.
- Natural calamities like tsunami, earthquake, lightning, etc.
Marine Insurance exclusive
Similar to the inclusions, there are certain that are excluded from the coverage such as:
- Packing quality is not appropriate that causes the damage.
- If the damage is intended and premeditated.
- Unsuccessful conveyance because of bankruptcy, no liquidation or improper finance.
- Depreciation of goods.
Types of Marine Insurance
Hull Insurance
This covers the torso, hull, articles, and few furniture of the ship. Such insurance is to redeem the losses in case of mishaps.
Machinery Insurance
All equipment and machines fall under this insurance. Further, the hull and machinery insurance could be concocted as one i.e., Hull and Machinery (H&M) insurance. Additionally, extends to war risk and strikes risks.
Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Insurance
The owners in association form a P&I club that offers the said insurance. Exclusively, covering the terms that are not present elsewhere. Further, protection deals with the risks in association with the ownership of the carrier (Crew claims). Meanwhile, indemnity deals with risks due to the hiring of the ship (Cargo).
Liability Insurance
This type of insurance covers obligations occurring from ship crashing, colliding, sinking, and related accidents.
Freight, Demurrage, and Defence (FD&D) Insurance
This is completely defense insurance by offering handling aid and legal charges (clashes) that are not under P&I and H&M.
Freight Insurance
This provides insurance to the customer’s carrier which losses money in freight when the cargo is damaged in an accident. Further, this avoids any loss faced by the companies
Marine Cargo Insurance
This is specifically for the cargo owners to protect the cargo on the voyage. In addition, in many cases the cover extends to damage of cargo while loading and de-loading at the port.
Marine Insurance Policy
The time for the reimbursement depends upon the type of policy of insurance. The following are the type of policies available
- Voyage Policy (1-year validity)
- Time Policy (valid for a specific amount of time)
- Mixed Policy (a combination of time and voyage policy)
- Open/ Unvalued Policy (value isn’t predefined, hence compensation only after inspection)
- Valued Policy (beforehand the value of the cargo is mentioned)
- Port Risk Policy (guarantees the safety of the ship in port)
- Wager Policy (no fixed terms, not written hence not legal)
- Floating Policy (only the amount of claim is present, no other details)
- Single Vessel Policy (small or one ship owners)
- Fleet Policy (Several ships, one owner insures all under one policy)
- Block Policy (covers all damages be it via rail, road, or sea)
Marine Insurance Providers in India
- ICICI Lombard– Covers all modern transportation, with all their respective threats. Moreover, it is a flexible, swift, and efficient way of handling.
- TATA AIG General Insurance Company– they are the pioneers of marine online insurance plus they provide aid 24/7. Besides, they offer to tailor the policy depending on the needs of the customer
- United India Insurance Co. Ltd.- they cover most of the polices and they compensate to damage in all means of transportation (air, road, rail, and sea)
- IFFCO Tokio General Insurance- Similarly provides coverage to all means of the voyage. Also, covers all the damages.
There are many other providers including Bajaj Allianz, HDFC Ergo, etc.
Best Suitable Marine Insurance Policy
In India, or elsewhere in the world an array of options is available to choose from. However, it is important to compare the plethora of insurers against the requirements. Subsequently, select the plan that is most accurately tailored for you. Also, the search engine provides you certain question that helps analyses the requirement, then show suitable policies.
Protocol to Claim
- First, inform the insurer about the claim
- Mention the type of damage and the circumstances under which it occurred
- Next, inspection from the insurance providers
- All policies, original invoice, and documents submission
- Finally, after scrutiny and verification, the claim amount will be released