Insuring perishables and produce while on the move
The Geo team are once again proud to sponsor the Great Yorkshire Show, and are joining the Agriculture community at the Showground this week to share their mutual passion for all things farming.
At Geo, our six specialist teams are perfectly placed to provide insurance cover not only on the farm, but beyond, too. Below, experts from our Marine team offer top tips on insuring perishables, helping to ensure the produce from our farms is protected on its journey to buyers.
Insuring perishables can be a tricky area, and one where detailed understanding of cargo and stock insurance is important.
Cargo insurance is usually offered on al “all risks” basis under Institute Cargo Clauses (A), which has a small number of exclusions built in and is generally thought of as the widest standard clauses. One of these is inherent vice.
The inherent vice exclusion will mean that deterioration of the goods, whether in transit or storage, is not covered. However, there is hope…
It’s possible to cover deterioration risks in transit and in storage under the same policy. The trick is knowing how to do it right: which means using Institute Frozen Food clauses.
Don’t be confused, when you see it’s the (A) version of Frozen Food clauses it doesn’t mean it’s the widest version of those standard clauses. One of the main elements of deterioration under these clauses centres around the requirement for there to be a breakdown of the refrigeration machinery in order for there to be a claim recoverable...
…and that applies even if the insurer agrees to move the 24-hour time franchise to zero hours. It makes no difference, there still has to be a breakdown!
The correct way to insure these risks is by using Institute Frozen Food Extension, which extends the cover under Frozen Food (A) to include deterioration in full, and only adds a small number of exclusions.