Insurance for goods that move.
Cargo in transit, goods in a warehouse, freight liability and the marine exposures that come with trading through a port city. Send us the documents and we will tell you what can be arranged, and what cannot.
Build the cargo file Send us your shipment details See what’s coveredGoods in transit, storage, motor truck cargo and freight liability
Importers, exporters, distributors, forwarders and carriers
What you ship, where from and to, values and terms of sale
Is my cargo already insured while it is shipping to or from British Columbia?
Usually far less than people assume. A carrier’s legal liability is limited (often to a fixed amount per kilogram, regardless of what the goods are worth) and it only applies when the carrier is at fault. A container lost overboard in a storm may leave you with almost nothing. Cargo insurance covers the goods themselves, not the carrier’s blame.
Carrier liability is capped by weight and only pays when the carrier was at fault. On a container of high-value goods that can mean recovering a fraction of what the shipment was worth, with the rest carried by you. Transport Canada explains why the carrier will not make you whole: “Limiting the liability of shipowners lets them maintain insurance coverage and helps make their costs more predictable.” Their costs are predictable because yours are capped. Cargo insurance is how you insure the difference. Read Transport Canada on shipowner liability (opens in a new tab).
That single misunderstanding causes more uninsured losses than any other in freight. If you are shipping goods and relying on someone else’s liability, it is worth ten minutes of checking.
Cover for goods, transit and the businesses that move them.
Marine cargo
Goods in transit by sea, air, road or rail, imports, exports and domestic movements, per shipment or on an annual policy.
Motor truck cargo
Goods carried on your own vehicles, and the liability you take on as a carrier.
Goods in storage
Stock sitting in a warehouse, a yard or a third-party facility between legs of a journey.
Freight forwarders & logistics liability
Errors and omissions and legal liability exposures for the businesses arranging other people’s shipments.
Equipment and vessels afloat
Workboats, barges and marine equipment, where the exposure is genuinely marine rather than simply valuable.
Contingent and seller’s interest
For when your buyer was supposed to insure the goods, and you carry the risk if they did not.
Cargo and transit we place directly. Freight forwarder E&O is professional liability and goes through specialist markets instead, a distinction worth knowing before someone tells you it is all one policy.
We are brokers in a port city, and it shows in the work.
Vancouver’s economy runs on goods arriving and leaving. Importers, distributors, freight businesses and the trades that supply them all carry transit exposures, and most local brokerages do not deal with them at all.
Importers & distributors
Goods arriving from overseas, sitting in a warehouse, then moving again by truck.
Exporters
Terms of sale decide who insures what and where the risk passes. Getting that wrong is expensive.
Freight & logistics
Carriers and forwarders whose liability exposures do not fit a standard business policy.
How big is our marine desk?
Small, real, and honest about it.
We are not a specialist marine house with a floor of underwriters. Our marine and cargo work is a genuine part of what we do, and it is unusual among Lower Mainland retail brokerages, most of which do not touch it.
What that means in practice: we place marine and cargo through specialist markets via the wholesale channel. For straightforward cargo and transit exposures that works well. For a large or unusual marine risk, we will tell you early if it belongs with a dedicated marine specialist rather than taking three weeks to reach the same conclusion.
You get a straight answer about what we can arrange. That is worth more than a claim we cannot back up.
Businesses whose goods do not stay still.
Importers & exporters
Goods crossing a border in either direction, where the sales terms decide who carries the loss on each leg.
Distributors & wholesalers
Stock bought to sell on, moving between suppliers, storage and customers most weeks of the year.
Freight forwarders
Arranging the moves without owning the cargo, which changes what a policy has to answer for.
Warehousing
Paid to hold other people’s stock, and the responsibility that comes through the door with it.
Marine trades & workboats
Boatbuilders, repairers and working vessels, where the exposure lives on the water.
Equipment movers
Machines worth more than the truck under them, moved a few times a year under contract.
How this can play out.
A container goes overboard in heavy weather. The carrier was not at fault, so their liability pays nothing. Cargo insurance covers the goods themselves regardless of blame, which is the whole reason it exists.
If a shipment is damaged or missing.
Call us as soon as you know about a marine or cargo loss and we will report it to the insurer and work the file with you. Some of the first steps are yours alone, and cargo claims are won and lost on documents, so what you do in the first days matters more than in almost any other kind of claim.
- Tell us straight away, even before you know the full extent of the loss.
- Note the damage on the delivery receipt before you sign anything.
- Tell the carrier in writing right away. If the damage was not obvious at delivery, the rules for sea carriage give you three days to put it in writing.
- Photograph the goods, the packaging, the container and the seal.
- Keep everything, damaged goods, packaging and the container if you can.
- Hold on to the bill of lading, packing list, invoice and any survey report.
- Do not settle anything with the carrier before speaking to us.
- The deadline to start a legal action against the carrier is a separate one and it is short, so speak to a lawyer early.
What cargo cover expects between door and door.
Cargo insurance follows goods through hands that are not yours. Its conditions are about paperwork, packing and speed, and each one is decided before the ship sails.
Packing that fails the journey
Cover expects packing fit for the trip: ocean swell, forklift handling, temperature swings. Goods lost to inadequate packing are the exclusion adjusters reach for first.
Declaring after the loss
Open policies expect shipments declared on time. A shipment that sailed undeclared and sank undeclared is the shortest claims conversation there is.
The claim that waited too long
Transit claims carry short notice windows, and carriers must be held responsible in writing fast. Sign a clean delivery receipt for a damaged pallet and the leverage leaves with the truck.
Storage between the legs
Goods pausing in a warehouse mid-journey can slip between the transit cover and any storage cover. The pause is where most cargo gaps live.
Most cargo claims are won at the packing bench and the paperwork stage. Check your routine against the wording before the next shipment.
What importers and shippers ask us.
Does the shipping company’s insurance cover my goods?
Only partly, and usually far less than the value of the goods. Carrier liability is limited by law and by contract, frequently to a set amount per kilogram, and it only applies where the carrier is at fault. Cargo insurance covers the goods themselves regardless of who is to blame.
What is the difference between a single-shipment and an annual cargo policy?
A single-shipment policy covers one movement. An annual policy covers everything you ship in a year under agreed terms, which is simpler if you ship regularly. If you ship more than occasionally, ask about the annual option.
Who insures the goods, me or my supplier?
It depends on the terms of sale in your contract. Those terms decide the point at which risk passes from seller to buyer, and both sides often assume the other is covering it. Send us the terms and we will tell you which side of the line you are on.
Are my goods covered while they sit in a warehouse?
Not always, and storage is where a lot of gaps appear, particularly in a third-party facility or between legs of a journey. It can be built into a cargo policy, but it should be arranged deliberately rather than assumed.
Do you insure boats and vessels?
We handle marine equipment and workboat exposures through specialist markets. For large or unusual vessels, we will tell you honestly whether it belongs with a dedicated marine specialist.
What do you need from me to get started?
What you ship, where from and where to, roughly how often, the value of a typical shipment, and the terms of sale if you have them. That is usually enough to begin.
Not the question you had? Build the cargo file and set out your own situation in plain words. A licensed broker reads it and replies in writing.
The questions behind the questions.
Own the trucks as well as the freight? commercial vehicles & fleet.
Send us the shipping documents.
What you move, where it goes and what it is worth. We work from paperwork, not guesswork.
WE REPLY IN WRITING · CALL US EARLY ON A MARINE OR CARGO LOSS
Make, pack or distribute goods? Manufacturing & wholesale covers plant, stock and the downtime that costs most.
Importing and distributing rather than just shipping? wholesale & distribution.
Goods on the move and a quote to get? Build the cargo file: it asks in freight language, not form language. Build the file →
Your own trucks moving the goods? Build the fleet file: the vehicles, the loads, the drivers, one question at a time. Build the file →