DOES VOYAGE DESCRIPTION EQUAL INSURANCE COVERAGE SCOPE?

QUESTION

Hi Sir,

Hope everything is going well.

I wanted to highlight a confusion of mine its more of a silly question.

The thing is in an insurance policy we need to know the overall coverage of the insurance from the place of loading the consignment to its ultimate destination.

Sometimes we find the policy only mentions the actual voyage details only, for example the ship will travel from China to Kolkata and then to Nepal.

Now the policy does not define from where to where the actual policy starts and ends. So, it is this predicament.

Can we assume that the provided voyage details for the ship is the coverage details as well.

Thank you for your Support.

Suraj 911. Shrestha

——

ANSWER

Hi Suraj,

Thank you for your question — and it’s not silly at all! In fact, it touches on a common source of confusion in cargo insurance.

Under CIF terms, the seller is required to arrange insurance for the goods, typically covering them from the port of loading to the port of discharge. However, this doesn’t automatically mean coverage is provided from origin to final destination — and certainly not just because the voyage is described in the policy.

If the insurance policy only mentions the shipping route (e.g., “China to Kolkata to Nepal”) but does not explicitly state the start and end points of coverage, you cannot assume that the full journey is insured.

What you should look for in the policy is specific wording like:

• “Warehouse to warehouse”
• “From seller’s premises in [City, Country] to buyer’s premises in [City, Country]”
• Or clear clauses that indicate when coverage attaches and terminates

Otherwise, even though the goods may physically continue to Nepal, the insurance might only cover them up to Kolkata, depending on what’s written.

Note:

This explanation is informed by insights from GPT-based tools like ChatGPT, which can be useful in untangling technical questions. That said, always verify the final interpretation with your insurer or legal advisor.

I – Mr. Old Man – might soon be replaced by a machine… but at least I’ll go out giving decent advice. 

Best regards,

Mr. Old Man