Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination.
Cargo insurance is the sub-branch of marine insurance, though marine insurance also includes onshore and offshore exposed property, (container terminals, ports, oil platforms, pipelines), hull, marine casualty, and marine losses. When goods are transported by mail or courier or related post, shipping insurance is used instead.
The Marine Insurance Act includes, as a schedule, a standard policy (known as the “SG form”), which parties were at liberty to use if they wished. Because each term in the policy had been tested through at least two centuries of judicial precedent, the policy was extremely thorough. However, it was also expressed in rather archaic terms. In 1991, the London market produced a new standard policy wording known as the MAR 91 form using the Institute Clauses. The MAR form is simply a general statement of insurance; the Institute Clauses are used to set out the detail of the insurance cover. In practice, the policy document usually consists of the MAR form used as a cover, with the Clauses stapled to the inside. Typically, each clause will be stamped, with the stamp overlapping both onto the inside cover and to other clauses; this practice is used to avoid the substitution or removal of clauses. Because marine insurance is typically underwritten on a subscription basis, the MAR form begins: We, the Underwriters, agree to bind ourselves each for his own part and not one for another […]. In legal terms, liability under the policy is several and not joint, i.e., the underwriters are all liable together, but only for their share or proportion of the risk. If one underwriter should default, the remainder are not liable to pick his share of the claim. Typically, marine insurance is split between the vessels and the cargo. Insurance of the vessels is generally known as “Hull and Machinery” (H&M). A more restricted form of cover is “Total Loss Only” (TLO), generally used as a reinsurance, which only covers the total loss of the vessel and not any partial loss. Cover may be on either a “voyage” or “time” basis. The “voyage” basis covers transit between the ports set out in the policy; the “time” basis covers a period, typically one year, and is more common.
Protection and indemnity
A marine policy typically covered only three-quarter of the insured’s liabilities towards third parties (Institute Time Clauses Hulls 1.10.83). The typical liabilities arise in respect of collision with another ship, known as “running down” (collision with a fixed object is a “allision”), and wreck removal (a wreck may serve to block a harbour, for example). In the 19th century, shipowners banded together in mutual underwriting clubs known as Protection and Indemnity Clubs (P&I), to insure the remaining one-quarter liability amongst themselves. These Clubs are still in existence today and have become the model for other specialized and noncommercial marine and non-marine mutuals, for example in relation to oil pollution and nuclear risks. Clubs work on the basis of agreeing to accept a shipowner as a member and levying an initial “call” (premium). With the fund accumulated, reinsurance will be purchased; however, if the loss experience is unfavourable one or more “supplementary calls” may be made. Clubs also typically try to build up reserves, but this puts them at odds with their mutual status. Because liability regimes vary throughout the world, insurers are usually careful to limit or exclude American Jones Act liability.
Actual total loss and constructive total loss
These two terms are used to differentiate the degree of proof that a vessel or cargo has been lost. An actual total loss occurs when the property has been destroyed, or so damaged as to cease to be a thing of the kind insured. A constructive total loss is a situation in which the cost of repairs plus the cost of salvage equal or exceed the value.The use of these terms is contingent on there being property remaining to assess damages, which is not always possible in losses to ships at sea or in total theft situations. In this respect, marine insurance differs from non-marine insurance, with which the insured is required to prove his loss. Traditionally, in law, marine insurance was seen as an insurance of “the adventure”, with insurers having a stake and an interest in the vessel and/or the cargo rather than simply an interest in the financial consequences of the subject-matter’s survival.
Constructive total loss
The term “constructive total loss”, or CTL, was used by the United States Navy during and after World War II to describe naval vessels that were damaged to such an extent that they were beyond economical repair. This was most often applied to small-type ships (destroyer, patrol boats, landing ships, mine warfare vessels, etc.) in 1945, the last year of the war, many of which were damaged by kamikazes; postwar the term was also used for ships damaged in typhoons. By this time enough ships were available for the war that some could be disposed of if severely damaged.
General averages
Average in marine insurance terms is “an equitable apportionment among all the interested parties of such an expense or loss”.
General average stands apart for marine insurance. In order for general average to be properly declared, 1) there must be an event which is beyond the shipowner’s control, which imperils the entire adventure; 2) there must be a voluntary sacrifice, 3) there must be something saved. The voluntary sacrifice might be the jettison of certain cargo, the use of tugs, or salvors, or damage to the ship, be it, voluntary grounding, knowingly working the engines that will result in damages. General average requires all parties concerned in the maritime venture (hull/cargo/freight/bunkers) to contribute to make good the voluntary sacrifice. They share the expense in proportion to the ‘value at risk” in the adventure. Particular average is the term applied to partial loss be it hull or cargo.
Average – is the situation in which the insured has under-insured, i.e., insured an item for less than it is worth. Average will apply to reduce the claim amount payable. An average adjuster is a marine claims specialist responsible for adjusting and providing the general average statement. An Average Adjuster in North America is a ‘member of the association of Average Adjusters’ To ensure the fairness of the adjustment a General Average adjuster is appointed by the shipowner and paid by the insurer.
Excess, deductible, retention, co-insurance, and franchise
An excess is the amount payable by the insured and is usually expressed as the first amount falling due, up to a ceiling, in the event of a loss. An excess may or may not be applied. It may be expressed in either monetary or percentage terms. An excess is typically used to discourage moral hazard and to remove small claims, which are disproportionately expensive to handle. The term “excess” signifies the “deductible” or “retention”.
A co-insurance, which typically governs non-proportional treaty reinsurance, is an excess expressed as a proportion of a claim in percentage terms and applied to the entirety of a claim. Co-insurance is a penalty imposed on the insured by the insurance carrier for under reporting/declaring/insuring the value of tangible property or business income. The penalty is based on a percentage stated within the policy and the amount under reported. As an example: a vessel actually valued at $1,000,000 has an 80% co-insurance clause but is insured for only $750,000. Since its insured value is less than 80% of its actual value, when it suffers a loss, the insurance payout will be subject to the under-reporting penalty, the insured will receive 750000/1000000th (75%) of the claim made less the deductible.
Tonners and chinamen
These are both obsolete forms of early reinsurance. Both are technically unlawful, as not having insurable interest, and so were unenforceable in law. Policies were typically marked P.P.I. (Policy is Proof of Interest). Their use continued into the 1970s before they were banned by Lloyd’s, the main market, by which time they had become nothing more than crude bets. A “tonner” was simply a “policy” setting out the global gross tonnage loss for a year. If that loss was reached or exceeded, the policy paid out. A “chinaman” applied the same principle but in reverse: thus, if the limit was not reached, the policy paid out.
Specialist policies
Various specialist policies exist, including:
Newbuilding risks: This covers the risk of damage to the hull while it is under construction.
Open Cargo or Shipper’s Interest Insurance: This policy may be purchased by a carrier, freight broker, or shipper, as coverage for the shipper’s goods. In the event of loss or damage, this type of insurance will pay for the true value of the shipment, rather than only the legal amount that the carrier is liable for.
Annual Cover: is issued for twelve month period subject to at inception of a minimum deposit premium. Often used by regular shippers of goods such as importers and exporters including freight forwarding agents, where a policy is issued to cover a number of consignments being shipped to and from various ports and destinations throughout the year
Yacht Insurance: Insurance of pleasure craft is generally known as “yacht insurance” and includes liability coverage. Smaller vessels such as yachts and fishing vessels are typically underwritten on a “binding authority” or “line slip” basis.
War risks: General hull insurance does not cover the risks of a vessel sailing into a war zone. A typical example is the risk to a tanker sailing in the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War. The war risks areas are established by the London-based Joint War Committee.
Increased Value (IV): Increased Value cover protects the shipowner against any difference between the insured value of the vessel and the market value of the vessel.
Overdue insurance: This is a form of insurance now largely obsolete due to advances in communications. It was an early form of reinsurance and was bought by an insurer when a ship was late at arriving at her destination port and there was a risk that she might have been lost (but, equally, might simply have been delayed). The overdue insurance of the Titanic was famously underwritten on the doorstep of Lloyd’s.
Cargo insurance: Cargo insurance is underwritten on the Institute Cargo Clauses, with coverage on an A, B, or C basis, A having the widest cover and C the most restricted. Valuable cargo is known as specie. Institute Clauses also exist for the insurance of specific types of cargo, such as frozen food, frozen meat, and particular commodities such as bulk oil, coal, and jute. Often these insurance conditions are developed for a specific group as is the case with the Institute Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Associations (FOFSA) Trades Clauses which have been agreed with the Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Associations and Institute Commodity Trades Clauses which are used for the insurance of shipments of cocoa, coffee, cotton, fats and oils, hides and skins, metals, oil seeds, refined sugar, and tea and have been agreed with the Federation of Commodity Associations. There has also been discussion about insurance policies to address plastic pollution as a result of plastic cargo losses at sea. For example, marine insurance policies should factor in liability for marine plastic pollution, marine clean-up and conservation.