Better safe than sorry: insurance for vehicle shipping

Insuring your transport is definitely recommended, expecially if it involves shipping overseas. Unfortunately, there will always be certain factors nobody can control; the container falls overboard,  bad weather at sea etc. Luckily these are situations that rarely occur, but it just might happen to you. The insurance value returned from the common insurance policy is often very minimal. SCL Rotterdam offers several insurance policies which allow you to insure your goods for a certain value. Should anything happen, we will personally make sure everything is handled accordingly. Insured cargo: a comfortable feeling.

To be able to determine when and how possible damage has been caused, several inspection rapports are made throughout the shipping process. This rapport details the vehicle's condition with notes and remarks of all dents, scratches, rust etc. (if any). This is usually done when the car is picked up for inland transport, when it is received by the warehouse of departure, directly after receiving the vehicle in the warehouse of arrival and, if applicable, when the car is delivered at your door.

In the case of damage, any insurance payments will be handled based on the vehicle's / cargo's market value which has been determined prior to shipping.

All-Risk insurance

All damages that have been caused during transport and shipping by fire, theft or other causes will be covered. The insurance coverage includes obvious scratches, dents and other damages.

In the case of removals / relocations the all-risk policy is only applicable if the packing of the goods has been handled by SCL. 

Total-Loss insurance

This policy only covers Total Loss damages that have been caused by transport. For example, this is the case if your vehicle's container falls overboard or is damaged in such a way that the vehicle is declared total-loss by a damage expert. Any other damage caused by transport like scratches or dents will not be covered.

General Average: a method that is as old as shipping itself. This arrangement means that if additional costs have to be made to (partially) save the ship and its load in case of emergency, these costs will be spread proportionately over all shippers that have cargo on the ship. This is also applicable if your own cargo has not suffered any damage at all. The client is always considered to be the shipper and will be held accountable in the case that General Average is declared. Having an insurance policy would save you a significant amount of money if this happens.