How to Make a Cargo Claim: Steps, Evidence and Deadlines

A cargo claim starts at delivery, not at the keyboard. Inspect the goods before you sign anything, write the damage onto the delivery receipt, photograph the condition, and send the carrier written notice immediately. Then build a file: the transport document, the commercial invoice, the packing list, a survey report, and a costed loss. What you record in the first hour usually decides the outcome.

Most failed claims are not failed on the merits. They fail because nobody claused the receipt, nobody kept the pallet, or the notice went in after the deadline written into the back of the transport document. The law gives you a route to recovery. Your own paperwork either supports it or destroys it.

Know which claim you are making

“Cargo claim” is loose language. It covers at least four different claims, against four different people, under four different sets of rules.

A claim against the carrier under the contract of carriage.
A claim on your own cargo policy, against your underwriter.
A claim against the seller under the sale contract, if the goods never conformed or risk had not passed.
A claim against a warehouse, terminal or handling agent holding the goods as bailee.

They are not alternatives you pick by preference. They have different proof burdens, different time limits and different ceilings on recovery. In practice most companies claim on the policy first, because it pays faster and the underwriter then pursues the carrier by subrogation. That only works if you preserve the recovery rights against the carrier while you do it. Miss the carrier notice deadline and your underwriter can reduce the payment, because you destroyed the recovery they were entitled to.

What to do at delivery

The receiving bay is where claims are won. Give the person signing a short standing instruction.

Count the pieces against the delivery document before the driver leaves. Count, do not estimate.
Check the seal number against the transport document and record it. A broken or mismatched seal is evidence on its own.
Look for crush, water staining, tilt or shock indicator activation, and torn shrink wrap.
Write what you see on the delivery receipt in specific words. “Two cartons crushed, one carton wet on lower face” beats “damaged”.
Photograph the load in the vehicle or container before it is moved, then photograph each damaged item.
Have the driver sign the same annotation, or note that they refused.
Do not sign clean and sort it out later. A clean receipt hands the carrier a defence.

If the volume is too large to check on the spot, sign for the number of packages only, and add wording that the contents are unchecked and subject to inspection. That is not a magic shield, but it is far better than a clean signature.

Concealed damage

Damage you find after opening the packaging is harder, because the carrier will argue it happened after delivery. Reduce that argument. Open and inspect as soon as you reasonably can, keep the outer packaging in the state you found it, note the date and time you opened it, and photograph the inner packing before you lift anything out. Where a shipment is high value, inspect on the day of arrival as a matter of policy rather than when production needs the parts.

Give notice, in writing, early

Every carriage regime has two separate clocks. One is a short notice period for telling the carrier that loss or damage occurred. The other is a longer time bar for starting formal proceedings. They are different deadlines and missing either one can end the claim.

The exact periods depend on mode and on the convention or national law that applies to the movement. Sea, air, road and rail each have their own regime, and the transport document normally names it. Do not guess. Read the conditions printed on the reverse of the document, and look for a clause that shortens the period further by agreement. Some house conditions do exactly that.

Send a holding notice within hours, even before you know the value. It only needs to identify the shipment, the transport document number, the date of delivery, the apparent loss, and a statement that you hold the carrier responsible and reserve your rights. Send it to the contracting carrier, not only to the delivering driver’s employer. Those are often different companies, and the one you contracted with is the one on the hook. Understanding the difference between a house and a master bill of lading matters here, because it tells you who your counterparty actually is.

Where the claim sits and what limits it

Use this to work out what you must prove and what will be thrown back at you.

Who you claim against	What you must show	The defence you will meet	What caps recovery
The carrier, under the contract of carriage	Goods were handed over sound, came out damaged or short, and the loss is measurable	Excepted perils, inherent vice, insufficient packing, act of the shipper, clean receipt at delivery	A package or weight limitation set by the applicable regime, unless a higher value was declared and paid for
Your cargo underwriter, under the policy	An insured peril, an insurable interest, and a loss inside the policy period and transit clause	Policy exclusions such as ordinary leakage, wear, delay, or unsuitable packing by the assured	The sum insured, the deductible, and the valuation basis written into the policy
The seller, under the sale contract	The goods did not conform, or risk had not yet passed when the loss happened	Risk passed at the named delivery point, and inspection or rejection rights expired	Limitation and exclusion clauses in the sale contract, and any agreed remedy
A warehouse, terminal or handling agent	The goods were in their custody when the damage occurred	Reasonable care was taken, or the damage predates their receipt	Standard trading conditions, often a low figure per package or per tonne

Two points fall out of that table. First, the carrier’s liability is usually capped by a package or weight limitation, so a light, expensive shipment can recover a fraction of its value even on a clear-cut claim. Second, insurance is what closes that gap. If you are unclear on how cover attaches and when it ends, read up on how cargo insurance works in transportation before the next shipment, not after the next loss.

The documents to assemble

A claim file that arrives complete gets settled. One that arrives in pieces gets a request for information and a reset clock. Gather the following before you submit.

The transport document, in full, including the reverse conditions. See the overview of transport documents if you are not sure which one governs.
The signed delivery receipt or proof of delivery, showing your clausing.
The commercial invoice and the packing list, so the value and the piece count can be checked.
Photographs, dated, showing the load as delivered and each damaged item.
A survey or inspection report where the value justifies one.
Repair quotations, replacement invoices or salvage valuations.
Your written notice to the carrier and their reply.
The booking confirmation or rate agreement, which may carry the trading conditions.
Weight certificates or temperature records where those are in dispute.

Keep the damaged goods and the packaging until the claim closes. Do not scrap, repair or sell the affected units without written agreement. Destroying the evidence gives the other side an easy answer, and most policies contain a duty to sue and labour that requires you to act reasonably to minimise the loss and preserve recovery rights.

Costing the loss

Present the number, do not leave it to the adjuster. A cargo claim is normally built from the invoice value of the affected goods, plus the freight and insurance already spent on them, less any salvage realised. Where goods are repairable, the repair cost plus any residual depreciation is usually the better basis. Show your working on a single page, with each line traceable to a document in the file.

Consequential losses are a different matter. Lost profit, production downtime, penalties owed to your own customer and replacement air freight are frequently excluded by both the carriage regime and the policy. You can sometimes recover them, but usually only where the carrier was told at the time of contracting that such a loss was likely. Claim them separately and flag them as such, rather than burying them in the main figure.

General average, an entirely different animal

If your container is on a ship that suffers a casualty and general average is declared, you are not making a claim. You are being asked to contribute to one. The vessel interests will demand security before your cargo is released, and an uninsured cargo owner has to fund that security out of pocket. An insured one hands it to the underwriter. The mechanics are set out in the general average clause in shipping, and it is worth understanding before it happens rather than during.

Why the contract decides more than the damage does

Two identical shipments, identically damaged, can produce completely different outcomes. The difference sits in the paperwork agreed before the goods moved. Who bore risk at the point of loss. Whether insurance was required by contract and at what level. Which law governs the sale. Whether a notice clause shortened the deadline.

Delivery terms drive the first of those. Under the Incoterms® rules, published by the International Chamber of Commerce, risk passes at a defined point that is often not the same as the place the goods are finally delivered. The party bearing risk at the moment of damage is the party with the claim, whatever the invoice says. Only two of the rules place an insurance obligation on the seller, so on the rest the cover is a matter of commercial agreement. The detail of who is responsible for cargo cover under each rule is worth checking against your standard terms.

People who handle claims well tend to be the same people who read contracts well. If risk transfer, remedies and documentary obligations are the weak spot on your team, that gap is assessable. The Global Trade Contracts Specialist certification tests exactly those areas, including risk allocation and remedies, title, documents and carriage, and payment and credit risk. It is an independent Globalior assessment and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by the International Chamber of Commerce.

Why claims get refused

A clean signed receipt with no exception noted, and no evidence the damage predates delivery.
Notice given late, or given to the wrong entity in the chain.
Packaging judged unsuitable for the mode and route. This is the single most common carrier defence.
Goods scrapped or repaired before the surveyor could see them.
No proof the goods were in sound condition when handed over, which is why a clean transport document at origin matters.
The claim value exceeds the carriage limitation and no higher value was declared.
The loss is delay only, which many regimes and policies treat differently from physical loss.

Key takeaways

Annotate the delivery receipt with specific damage wording before signing, and photograph the load before it is moved.
There are two separate deadlines in every carriage regime: a short notice period and a longer time bar for proceedings.
Claim on the cargo policy for speed, but preserve the carrier recovery rights or the underwriter can reduce the payment.
Carrier liability is normally capped by a package or weight limitation, so insurance is what covers the difference.
A complete file, submitted once, settles faster than a partial file that triggers repeated information requests.
Keep the damaged goods and packaging until the claim is closed, and get written agreement before disposing of anything.
Consequential loss such as downtime or penalty payments is usually excluded unless it was specifically flagged at contracting.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to make a cargo claim?

It depends on the mode of transport and the convention or national law applying to the movement. Every regime sets a short period for notifying apparent loss or damage, and a separate longer period for bringing proceedings. The transport document names the governing regime, and trading conditions sometimes shorten the period by agreement. Check the reverse of the document rather than relying on a general rule of thumb.

Should I claim against the carrier or my insurer?

Notify both. Claim on the policy, because it pays a wider range of losses and settles faster, and because carrier liability is capped. At the same time give the carrier formal written notice holding them responsible. Your underwriter will pursue the carrier by subrogation after paying you, and they need those rights intact. Failing to preserve them can reduce what you are paid.

What happens if I signed a clean delivery receipt?

The claim gets harder, not impossible. A clean receipt raises a presumption that the goods arrived in apparent good order. You can still succeed by showing the damage could not have happened after delivery, using photographs taken on opening, seal records, packing evidence and a prompt survey. Move quickly, because delay strengthens the carrier’s argument that something happened in your warehouse.

Do I need a survey?

For anything beyond a low value single carton, yes. An independent surveyor records cause, extent and salvage value, and that report is the document adjusters weigh most heavily. Most policies also give the underwriter the right to appoint one, so call them before arranging your own. Do not repair, move or dispose of the goods until the survey is completed.

Does the delivery term decide who makes the claim?

It decides who bears risk at the moment of loss, and that party is normally the one with the claim and the insurable interest. It does not automatically decide who holds the cover. Only some rules put an insurance duty on the seller, and the level required may be lower than the buyer expects. Set the cover requirement in the sale contract instead of assuming the delivery term handles it.

Can I recover lost profit or downtime?

Rarely from the carrier. Carriage regimes generally confine recovery to the value of the goods, and standard trading conditions exclude indirect loss outright. Policies vary, and some can be extended to cover specific consequential exposures for an additional premium. If downtime is a real risk on a given trade lane, arrange that cover in advance and price it in.

Who do I send the claim to if a freight forwarder arranged the shipment?

Send it to whoever contracted with you, usually the forwarder who issued the document you hold. They may be acting as carrier or as agent, and that changes their exposure. Their trading conditions will say which, and those conditions often set tight notice periods. Serve notice on both the forwarder and the actual carrier where you can identify them.

Getting the contract side right

Claims handling is reactive work. The recoverable amount was fixed earlier, when someone accepted a set of terms. Reviewing your sale and carriage terms with fresh eyes, alongside a working knowledge of what a bill of lading does and why it matters, changes more outcomes than any improvement to the claim form. If you want to test that knowledge formally, the GTCS certification introduction sets out the eight domains the exam covers and how it is assessed.

Questions about how the exam maps to your team’s work? Get in touch with Globalior and ask.