Most Cargo Travels Uninsured — Until a Marine Policy Has to Pay the Loss

Ask most importers, exporters and hauliers whether a given consignment is insured and the answer is often the same: no, and the reason is almost always the same too — nothing will go wrong on this trip. The goods represent real money, sometimes a whole quarter of trade, and yet the entire shipment rides the sea, the road or the air on the assumption that storms, theft and accidents are other people’s problems.

That assumption holds right up until the day it does not. A marine policy — arranged through My Insure Bank — exists for exactly that day. It is not a formality and it is not money down the drain: when cargo is lost or damaged in transit, it pays the loss, up to the insured value of your shipment, after a storm, theft, non-delivery or an accident. The protection is real. The problem is that most consignments never carry it.

“The cover traders treat as optional is the one that makes good a consignment lost at sea or an accident in transit — up to the insured value, settled through My Insure Bank. Most cargo simply never carries it.”

What a marine policy from My Insure Bank actually does

Marine and aviation cover protects two things: the cargo and the craft that carries it. Marine cargo covers the goods against loss, theft, non-delivery and damage on the voyage; inland transit and goods in transit extend that to the road legs at either end; marine hull and aircraft hull cover the vessel or aircraft itself. Bought through My Insure Bank, the policy pays to make good what was lost, up to the insured value you declare when the cover is arranged.

This is the one number that matters most, and it is why marine cover is framed differently from motor. A third-party motor policy carries a regulated payout; a marine policy is built around the insured value of your consignment or craft. Declare it at the true value of the goods or the vessel, and the policy is there to make you whole. Declare it too low to save a little on premium, and you carry the shortfall yourself. Getting that figure right is part of what a broker is for.

The losses a marine policy is built for

These are not abstract risks. They are the everyday losses that empty a trader’s working capital in a single shipment:

• The shipment lost when a vessel runs into heavy weather — marine cargo pays the loss of the goods, up to their insured value.
• The container that never arrives — goods-in-transit cover settles theft and non-delivery so the consignment is not simply written off.
• The freight damaged in the hold in transit — air cargo and aviation cover makes good the damage, rather than leaving it on you.

Why “nothing will go wrong” is the costliest bet

The deeper issue is the same one that keeps so many Nigerian businesses underinsured everywhere: a quiet belief that insurance is money wasted, and that disaster is something that happens to other people’s shipments. But a consignment you never insure is not proof that the risk was never real — it is simply a bet that paid off until the voyage it did not. And unlike a minor delay, a cargo lost at sea or a hull written off is not something most traders can absorb out of pocket.

A marine policy turns that loss into a claim. Through My Insure Bank, the cover that pays the loss when cargo is lost or damaged in transit is there before the bad voyage, not improvised after it.

How to actually claim — through My Insure Bank

If your insured cargo is lost or damaged in transit and you hold a valid marine policy bought through My Insure Bank, the claim is handled for you rather than left to chance:

• Report the incident from your phone — note the date, the voyage or flight, and what was lost or damaged, and send photos and the shipping documents.
• Our claims team logs it with your insurer and tracks it through to a decision, so you are not chasing paperwork alone while trade is held up.
• Once assessed, the claim is settled up to the insured value — making good the lost or damaged consignment, so the loss does not fall on you.

The takeaway is simple. The cargo most traders leave uninsured is often a large slice of their working capital riding on a single journey. A marine policy from My Insure Bank is what stands behind it when the voyage turns — cover that pays the loss, up to the insured value, so one bad shipment does not undo a season of trade.