Goods in transit insurance
Page 26
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I HAVE READ your article in CM, January 21, on RHA Insurance Services with considerable interest My interest is however restricted to goods in transit insurance. I have no wish to decry the goods in transit element of the Roadway policy, it is a good contract.
I am, however, concerned at the inaccuracies in your article relating to the extent of the cover you have referred to as being provided by "most policies". Where on earth did you obtain the information that container limits of £3,500 or less or a ropes and sheets limit of £300 were the norm? I am afraid you have been ill informed. A number of the insurers specialising in providing goods in transit insurance for hauliers, of which the Provincial is one, issue policies without any limit in either respect and those insurers who do include limits generally do so for amounts very much in excess of the figures you mention.
Additionally, your reference to the common requirement in "most policies" that unattended vehicles/trailers be parked in a depot or secure yard' (incidentally not a requirement of the Provincial's policy) is misleading. The requirement generally relates to the 'overnight period' and not as your article suggests to vehicles/trailers left unattended at any time. A great deal of stress is made of the premium savings that are being achieved. When coupled with the "extra cover" indicated as being granted under the policy as a whole, this must inevitably mean that the savings are likely to be of short-lived duration — time will tell.
B. CANNON Transit Manager Provincial Insurance Company Kendal, Cumbria.
• The figures relating to a liability level for containers and ropes/sheets were derived from the policy of a well-known insurance company and as such were accurate, if not completely typical That same policy includes the limitation to theft cover for unattended vehicles/trailers. It does not refer to an overnight period only. This again may not be typical but it would be equally wrong to infer that all policies exclude liability at night only — Editor.