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Cargo is basically defined as anything that is loaded onto any type or form of vehicle for the purpose of being transported from A to B, always provided that the "thing" does not happen to be a human being.
Risk Factors
An infinitely variable combination of risk factors such as mode of transportation, type of goods, packing, size/weight/value, trip route, trip duration, season and socio-economic environment, would make up the risk covered by a marine policy in terms of cargo.
Cargo Conditions
Although the policy form is an important part of the contract of insurance, it would be useless taken on its own, i.e. without the special conditions provided by the clauses attached to it. There are a bundle of different clauses in use today. For example, there are special trade clauses for shipments of coal, oil, rubber, timber, frozen food and meat, as well as a variety of special extension clauses.
The (UK) Marine Insurance Act of 1906 provides the basis for marine insurance contracts and, within the legal parameters laid down in this Act, the Institute of London Underwriters have approved numerous 'clauses' defining the risks covered, circumstances excluded, and other conditions, to be incorporated into insurance policies. Some of these have broad application and are therefore in everyday use. Others are specific to certain trades and classes of goods.
The tenets of the Marine Insurance Act, and the Institute Clauses, have been widely adopted amongst trading nations, including South Africa. The standard policy document represents only the skeleton of a marine insurance contract. It is the clauses, which are incorporated by attachment to the policy, that are the essence of the contract; however, the policy may contain, by agreement, specific wordings which extend or restrict the basic cover by imposing, for example, warranties, special conditions, a franchise or an excess.
The main clauses are:
Institute Cargo Clauses which consist of:
- Institute Cargo Clauses (A)
- Institute Cargo Clauses (B)
- Institute Cargo Clauses (C)
- Institute Cargo Clauses (Air)
- Institute War Clauses
- Institute Strikes Clauses
- Institute Trade Clauses
- Additional Clauses
- Additional Terms
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