claims handling case study

Recovery with insufficient documentation / without a subrogation receipt

Pedro Núñez

Pedro Núñez

Claims Handler

timing

5 months

type of recovery

amicable

loss ratio

100%

loss amount

69,617.87 EUR

countries involved

Poland, Spain
The insured of our client, a Spanish provider sold 33 transformers to their Polish partner and ordered the transport through a freight forwarder in Poland. The freight forwarder hired the effective carrier.

The incident

The truck set out from the shipper’s warehouse, but unfortunately suffered a road accident near Stare Miasto, Poland. All the 33 transformers were affected. Damaged goods were collected and transported to the destination warehouse.

The challenges we faced

  • The truck and the damaged goods were transported to the warehouse of the buyer. By the time our surveyor arrived, the cargo had been unloaded and therefore it wasn’t possible to inspect stowage and lashing.
  • The survey report did not determine the cause of the accident, as police report wasn’t available.
  • Our client couldn’t send us the subrogation receipt, as their insured delayed signing it, which means that we had to claim without having proper legitimization.  
  • A local salvage sale was attempted but was imposible to carry out because of applicable government restrictions.

Solutions

We initiated the claim against both the freight forwarder and the actual carrier, although it soon became clear that the two companies belong to the same group. Luckily they had cargo insurance, so we sent the claim to their insurance company as well. At the same time we made efforts to learn more about the circumstances of the accident and insisted that the insurer of the carrier would accept our explanations regarding the salvage sale.

Eventually they accepted our reasoning that damaged goods must have been transported back to origin because this was the most economic solution in the given situation.

Why do we consider it a successful case?

We obtained 100% of the loss amount in an amicable recovery, even before our client paid compensation to their insured. Considering not only the lack of subrogation receipt but of other important elements of the loss, this result is nothing short of remarkable.

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