There are a few exceptions that can be made to this. Since a product damaged by inherent vice is, generally speaking, due to the nature of the product by no exterior causes, it’s not directly linkable to any one carrier’s involvement. The other huge issue here is that there is a complete lack of causation between the product’s malfunction or damage and any one particular carrier. If you are frequently shipping products that are prone to internal damage due to the nature of the product (rather than by external causes), you may want to look for a more suiting policy. Before you sign onto an insurance policy, carefully read the fine print. Most insurance providers clearly outline in their contracts that damages due to inherent vice will not be covered by the policy. In summary, here are a few reasons you may not be eligible for a claim: Contract Terms Depending on the insurance policy you have, it’s likely that you agreed to having your cargo covered with the exception of damages caused by inherent vice. Why You Aren’t Eligible for a Claim: Inherent ViceĪs stated before, the most unfortunate part about inherent vice is… well, you may not be eligible to make a cargo claim. It’s simply just any damage which occurs naturally as a result of the nature of a product. A couple simple examples of inherent vice would be deterioration due to product instability, rust forming due to metal materials/ moisture, combustion (batteries or other substances), and a slew of other possibilities. In other words, it’s damage done by internal causes rather than external ones. Inherent vice is generally referred to as any damage caused to cargo due to the inherent nature of the product as opposed to any damages inflicted on the goods by the carrier themselves. For those of you who don’t know what inherent vice is, here is a simple definition. Unfortunately, a lot of shippers are not prepared to deal with the claims processes associated with inherent vice. If your goods are damaged due to inherent vice, chances are you’ll be “ship out of luck” (thank you, we really tried with that one). However, even in the case of having your cargo covered, there is one major instance in which you may not be eligible for a cargo claim: Inherent Vice. The unfortunate thing is that most shippers are operating under the false assumption that their cargo is insured. Did you know that your cargo is only insured for $500 per shipping unit (often defined as a container) per COGSA law? Ocean carriers aren’t liable to pay for your cargo even if they are responsible for the breakage.

Inherent vice insurance