Marine cargo insurance is a specialized insurance product that provides financial protection for goods while they are in transit via land, sea or air. Cargo insurance covers losses from a wide variety of risks that can occur to your business’s property during shipping, including:

• Extreme weather events
• Theft
• Water damage
• Mishandling or breakage
• Road accidents
• Fires or explosions
• General average

With the right insurance policy, your business can move assets worldwide with the confidence that your shipments will be protected against unexpected losses. This financial security helps to ensure the continuity of your operations, safeguarding your goods every step of the way from their point of origin to the final destination.

This is especially valuable for businesses that ship high-value goods internationally, from pharmaceuticals to technology and electronics. These shipments are repeatedly targeted by criminals, resulting in millions of dollars in losses each year. With the risk of theft and other critical exposures, businesses can face severe consequences in addition to financial losses when loss or damage to goods occurs, including:

• Supply chain disruptions
• Delayed deliveries
• Consumer dissatisfaction
• Legal obstacles
• Reputational harm

Cargo insurance provides a safety net against these impacts, ensuring you’re prepared when the unexpected occurs.

Marine cargo insurance is crucial for businesses engaged in global trade as it helps mitigate financial risks associated with transporting goods worldwide across multiple modes of conveyances. Lost or damaged shipments pose a financial risk, and cargo insurance helps recover these costs, protecting cash flow and profit margins. As a result, owners and operators can focus on building resilience in today’s complex risk landscape and sustainably growing their business over time.

Marine cargo insurance is beneficial to any business that regularly imports or exports goods, whether on a domestic scale within the US or internationally. Alliant serves the unique needs of manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers in a variety of diverse industries, including:

• General Goods
• Energy & Equipment
• Technology & Electronics
• Apparel/Retail
• Perishables
• Pharmaceuticals
• Life Sciences
• Forest Products/Lumber
• Food & Beverages, including Wineries/Breweries
• Construction Materials & Equipment

There are a variety of coverage solutions you can leverage as part of a comprehensive cargo insurance program, including:

• Cargo Stock Throughput Policy (STP): Your goods go through an extensive journey to reach their final destination, from being sourced, produced, processed and shipped thousands of miles. An STP protects your assets at any point in the supply chain —whether they’re at a location such as a warehouse or actively in transit.
• Cargo-Only Program in Partnership with the Property Policy: A cargo-only program offers dedicated protection for goods in transit, separating your cargo insurance from the main property policy. This empowers businesses to safeguard their assets throughout the supply chain without impacting the limits or terms of their property insurance policy. With the right insurance brokerage, your business can receive custom cargo-only policies tailored to your specific exposures when moving goods.
• Trip Transit Policies: Trip transit insurance covers a specific individual shipment for a single trip. This targeted form of cargo insurance is valuable to businesses that infrequently ship products or have a one-off, high-value delivery.
• Warehousing-Only Policies: A warehousing-only policy offers targeted protection to goods stored in a warehouse, making this policy ideal for businesses that aren’t actively moving property and have valuable inventory in warehouses. This mitigates risks associated with storage, such as theft, fire, water damage and natural disasters.

Most marine cargo insurance policies exclude the following:

• Misappropriation, intentional misconduct or infidelity/dishonest acts.
• Inherent vice, such as the natural decomposition of foods or wear and tear of goods over time without external factors.
• Loss of market.
• Losses caused by war and terrorism.

However, these risks may be able to be insured through separate policies or endorsements if your business will be shipping products through high-risk zones.

As the cargo landscape continues to evolve, your business needs comprehensive risk management solutions and strategies to maintain a competitive edge. An experienced broker can help customize insurance solutions to your needs, whether you’re manufacturing the product or distributing it throughout the supply chain.

As the leading specialty brokerage firm in the nation, Alliant offers innovative risk management solutions and strategies to protect your insurable interests, whether at risk or contingent. Our dedicated team of highly specialized and dynamic marine cargo professionals understand the challenges you face and aggressively pursue best-in-market insurance coverages to align with your needs.

By bringing the best talent and cutting-edge broking techniques to the table, we help our clients simplify the process of storing and moving goods so they can stay ahead. Our team works as a partner in your success, helping you to develop risk mitigation strategies that drive revenue, enhance operational excellence and ensure seamless operations across your supply chain.