The products and clients involved
A shipment of almonds departs from Valencia, Spain, on route to Sempeter pri Gorci, Slovenia. In Brescia (Italy), the truck went on fire.
The incident
Due to this, the almonds that were to arrive in Slovenia never reached their destination, as the fire completely burned both the vehicle used and the merchandise inside, including the almonds which were insured by our client.
It was possible to find out the origin of the fire thanks to the report carried out by the fire service that attended the scene, which confirmed that it had started after a puncture in one of the vehicle’s tires. The same conclusion was reached by the expert who inspected the truck.
The challenges we faced
In the course of the claim, there were differing opinions as to whether the matter could be considered as a circumstance that the carrier could not avoid and the consequences of which they could not prevent. However, in light of the documentation provided to support the exclusion of liability, the technical inspections of the vehicle do not in themselves prove the good condition of the tyres at the time of transport, as they do not refer to factors such as age, wear, or faulty pressure or balancing. Therefore, there was no cause for exoneration.
Conclusions
In this case, it was up to the company that transported the merchandise to demonstrate and prove sufficiently that the cause of the fire could not be avoided nor its consequences prevented. As a result, we were able to recover the amount of EUR 10,140 (100% of the amount claimed) for our client.