Actual value
- Not capped per kilogram
- Regardless of who is liable
- Including freight and costs
Transport insurance for foodstuffs
A consignment of foodstuffs can be rejected in its entirety without anything visibly wrong with the product itself.
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Work out for yourself what it would cost.
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- We compare the offerings of several insurers
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In brief
With food it is not the surveyor but the regulations that decide whether a load still has any value. If the cold chain has been broken, the load space has not demonstrably been cleaned or there is a suspicion of contamination, the whole consignment goes, even where the taste and appearance are fine. There is no residual value and no partial loss: with these goods, rejection is almost always a total loss.
That makes the hygiene of the load space a condition of cover rather than good practice. Insurers require a cleaning and disinfection record between consignments, a ban on loading certain product groups together, and a watertight HACCP-based way of working. A load of cheese that smells of cleaning agent because the previous journey carried chemicals is not an accident but an organisational failure.
For the technology behind temperature control and the evidence of it we refer you to transport insurance for refrigerated transport. This page deals with the food safety rules that determine whether a consignment is still saleable.
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What does transport insurance for foodstuffs cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Liability
What a carrier bears at most.
- CMR: 8.33 SDR per kilo
- AVC: € 3.40 per kilo
- Rarely the actual value
Type of cover
From limited to all risks.
- All external perils
- Limited perils
- Storage in transit
What is covered
| Situation | Carriers' liability | Goods in transit |
|---|---|---|
| Damage from an accident, up to the weight limit | Yes | Yes |
| Damage above the weight limit | No | Yes |
| Theft of the cargo | Sometimes | Yes |
| Damage with no identifiable fault | No | Yes |
| Storage during the journey | No | Sometimes |
| Inherent defect or inadequate packaging | No | No |
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
What does your premium depend on?
- Product group. Meat, fish, dairy, vegetables, dry groceries and drinks each carry their own risks and their own rules.
- Residual value and disposal costs. Whether the costs of destroying and disposing of a rejected consignment are included.
- Cleaning regime between consignments. The frequency and demonstrability of cleaning and disinfecting the load space.
- Loading product groups together. Driving with separate compartments or with mixed loads leads to a different assessment.
- Certification of the business. A demonstrably HACCP-based way of working and recognised chain certificates count in the underwriting.
- Value per consignment. Because rejection affects the whole consignment, the full consignment value is the basis and not part of it.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your wishes.
- We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
- You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
- We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Why arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
9.5New policy
9.8Claims handling
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Rejection means no residual value
With industrial goods a partly damaged consignment can often still be sold at a discount. With foodstuffs that way out does not exist: rejected products may not go back into the chain and have to be destroyed. So set the sum insured on the full value of the consignment and not on an estimated loss, and take account of the costs of removal and destruction, which are not included on every policy.
You have to record cleaning and mixed loading
Record for each journey when the load space was cleaned, with what product and by whom, and keep that record. Taint and cross-contamination are the classic causes of loss and can in almost every case be traced back to a previous load. Insurers treat undocumented cleaning as a failure by the carrier, and the loss is then not an external peril but your own fault.
Shelf life and delay
With fresh produce the remaining shelf life runs on during every hold-up, whether that is a border check, a traffic jam or a waiting delivery point. A consignment that arrives with too few days left is refused by the buyer even though there is nothing wrong with it. That loss comes under delay and is excluded on virtually every policy. Agree in the carriage contract on the minimum remaining shelf life at delivery.
Recalls fall outside it
If a delivered consignment turns out afterwards to be unsafe, a recall follows with costs for tracing, retrieving, destroying and communicating. Those costs are separate from the cargo you carried and fall outside goods in transit insurance; there is separate recall cover for that. Fines from the regulator and your buyer's loss of turnover cannot be insured on this policy either.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Is rejection of a consignment covered?
Only if the cause falls under the policy, for example a covered temperature deviation or a collision that damaged the packaging. If the consignment is rejected because the load space had not demonstrably been cleaned or because the wrong products were loaded together, that is a failure by the carrier and not an insured event.
Are the costs of destruction included?
Not on every policy. Rejected foodstuffs may not simply be thrown away and have to be disposed of through an approved processor, with the associated costs. Some insurers include those within clean-up costs, others do not. Ask about this expressly, because with a full consignment these costs can make up a substantial part of the loss.
Is taint from a previous load covered?
Hardly ever. Cross-contamination and taint arise because the load space was not cleaned or not cleaned properly, and that is an organisational failure. Insurers treat this as the carrier's own fault. A watertight cleaning record for each journey is the only way to show that the cause lay elsewhere.
Does the policy cover a recall?
No. Goods in transit insurance pays for the consignment carried. The costs of tracing, retrieving and destroying products already with buyers or consumers come under separate recall insurance. Fines from the regulator and your client's loss of turnover fall outside the cover in all cases.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare goods in transit insuranceThe main page
- Transport insurance for refrigerated transportTemperature, recording, spoilage
- Transport insurance for building materialsBulk, unloading, weather
- Transport insurance for electronicsHigh value, low weight, theft
- Transport insurance for courier servicesMany consignments, high value, speed
- Goods in transit insuranceActual value, route, who insures
- Transport insurance for works of artIrreplaceable, valuation, condition report
- Goods in transit insurance for hazardous substancesADR, environment, certification
- Transport insurance for parcel servicesVolume, shrinkage, large batches
Read more
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Request a quote without obligation. We will look at which insurer best matches your activities and your risk.
Prefer to call? 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 09:00–17:00.
Claim on the road? Emergency line 06 - 55 20 40 72.
About our service
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
This page was compiled by Finass Verzekert (LinkedIn). Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.