Water damage at the back of the container
Your team opens a container and finds cartons at the back soaked through. Someone takes a few photos on a phone. The haulier has already left, and the delivery receipt was signed clean. The damaged cartons are moved to one side while the rest are unloaded.
A week later, your finance person contacts your insurance broker. The broker asks for photos showing the container number and seal, the delivery receipt, the bill of lading, the packing list, the commercial invoice, a count of damaged units, and whether notice was given to the carrier. Some of that exists. Some does not, and some deadlines have already passed.
Why transit claims fall apart
Claims depend on evidence gathered at unloading, when the team is focused on getting the container empty. Nobody has a checklist for what to capture. Shipping documents are in forwarder emails. Values need to come from invoices and landed cost. And the time limits for giving notice, set by your policy and the carrier's terms, are rarely known on the warehouse floor.
- No photos of the container number, seal or damage in place.
- Delivery receipts signed without noting damage.
- Damaged quantities estimated rather than counted.
- Shipping documents scattered.
- Notice deadlines unknown to the people who find the damage.
What a weak claim costs
Claims can be reduced or refused if evidence is thin or notice was late. The cost of damaged goods, and the time spent handling them, falls on you. Customers waiting for that stock are let down. And the process takes much longer than it should.
What your policy covers and the deadlines it sets are between you, your insurance broker and your insurer. We do not interpret policies; we make sure the evidence and dates are captured.
The transit damage claims file we build
- The unloading check on the handheld prompts for photos of the container number, seal and door condition before unloading starts.
- When damage is found, staff record it against the carton and line with photos, and the tool prompts them to note it on the delivery receipt before the haulier leaves.
- A claims file opens automatically, with the bill of lading, packing list, commercial invoice and landed cost pulled from the shipment record.
- Damaged units are counted and valued from the invoice and landed cost, so the figure is based on records.
- Notice deadlines from your policy and carrier terms, entered once, are tracked from the discharge and delivery dates, with reminders.
- The claim pack is prepared in the format your broker or insurer asks for, and correspondence and settlement are tracked in the file.
| Evidence | Usually | With the claims file |
|---|---|---|
| Container and seal photos | Often missing | Prompted before unloading |
| Delivery receipt note | Signed clean | Prompted before the haulier leaves |
| Damaged quantity and value | Estimated | Counted and valued from records |
| Documents | Forwarder emails | Attached from the shipment |
| Notice deadlines | Unknown | Tracked with reminders |
When the next damaged container arrives
The warehouse team captures what an insurer will ask for, in the order they need to. The claims file fills itself with documents and values. Deadlines are tracked by the system, not remembered. And your broker receives a complete claim instead of a series of partial emails.
Is this how damage is handled now?
- Damaged containers are photographed on phones, if at all.
- Delivery receipts are signed without noting damage.
- Claims are started days or weeks after unloading.
- Nobody on the floor knows the notice deadlines.
- Claims are reduced for lack of evidence.