AMIM key terms

A broad class of insurance covering risks connected with waterborne commerce and transport, including vessels, cargo, freight, and related liabilities. It is among the oldest forms of insurance and is governed by distinct legal traditions.

Fortuitous accidents or casualties peculiar to navigation, such as sinking, grounding, collision, or heavy weather. Ordinary wear and tear, inherent vice, and expected action of wind and wave are excluded.

A hull policy provision extending cover to losses from latent defects in machinery or hull, and from negligence of masters, officers, or crew, provided the loss was not caused by want of due diligence by the assured.

Coverage on the vessel itself, protecting the shipowner against physical damage to or loss of the insured ship from specified marine perils, typically written on agreed-value basis.

Mutual or commercial liability cover for shipowners and operators against third-party claims such as injury to crew, cargo damage, pollution, wreck removal, and collision liability not covered by hull policies.

Coverage protecting goods in transit against loss or damage from insured perils. Policies may be arranged per shipment, under open covers, or on a contingent basis, and terms often follow standard clauses.

Standardized policy wordings widely used in London-market cargo insurance, issued in A, B, and C variants that provide all-risks, named-perils, and more restricted named-perils coverage respectively.

A coverage formulation insuring against all fortuitous causes of loss except those specifically excluded, shifting the burden to the insurer to prove an exclusion applies.

A coverage approach that insures only the specific causes of loss listed in the policy, requiring the insured to show the loss resulted from a listed peril.

A longstanding maritime principle requiring cargo, freight, and ship interests to share proportionately in sacrifices or extraordinary expenses intentionally incurred to save the whole venture from a common peril.

A partial loss accidentally sustained by a particular interest, such as damage to one shipper's cargo, which is borne by that interest alone rather than shared across the venture.

A specialist who investigates and apportions maritime losses, particularly general average contributions and particular average claims, producing statements that allocate liability among the parties.

A loss treated as total because the cost of recovering and repairing the insured property would exceed its insured value, allowing the assured to abandon the property and claim the full sum insured.

A loss where the insured property is wholly destroyed, irrecoverably lost, or so damaged it ceases to be the thing insured, entitling the assured to the full insured amount.

The assured's surrender of all rights in insured property to the insurer in connection with a constructive total loss claim, entitling the assured to be paid as for a total loss.

A policy provision obligating and reimbursing the assured for reasonable expenses incurred to avert or minimize a loss covered by the policy, separate from and in addition to the sum insured.

The recovery of property from peril at sea, and the reward paid to salvors who voluntarily save maritime property. Salvage awards may create liens against ship and cargo.

A standing cargo insurance agreement under which the insured declares all shipments falling within its scope, with terms agreed in advance and certificates issued per shipment.

A document evidencing that a specific shipment is insured under a master or open cover, summarizing the coverage, insured value, and applicable terms for that consignment.

A cargo transit provision extending coverage from the time goods leave the shipper's warehouse until they arrive at the consignee's warehouse, subject to termination triggers in the clause.

Inland marine or cargo coverage insuring property while in the course of transportation, often extending to incidental storage and subject to territorial and time limitations.

A class of property insurance covering goods, equipment, and property in transit or at fixed locations that are mobile or not typically insured by standard fire policies.

A regulatory statement defining which kinds of property and risks may be written as inland marine insurance, distinguishing marine from other property lines for rate and form filing purposes.

A person or business holding property belonging to others, such as a warehouse operator or repairer, who may purchase coverage for customers' goods in their care.

Inland marine coverage protecting a bailee against liability for loss or damage to customers' property in the bailee's care, custody, or control, often written on a named-perils or all-risks basis.

Liability coverage for warehouse operators against claims arising from loss or damage to stored goods for which the operator is legally liable, subject to policy limits and terms.

A hull policy provision covering the insured vessel's liability to another vessel for collision damage, typically capped as a percentage of the hull value and subject to a sister-ship provision.

Another name for the collision liability clause in hull policies, addressing the shipowner's legal liability for damage caused to other vessels in a collision.

The service of guiding a vessel into or out of a port or through hazardous waters by a licensed pilot, whose negligence may be imputed under certain marine policy provisions.

The condition of a vessel being reasonably fit in hull, equipment, and crew to withstand the ordinary perils of the voyage. Breach of the implied warranty of seaworthiness can defeat a marine claim.

A condition where a vessel is not reasonably fit for its intended voyage due to defective hull, equipment, crewing, or stowage, often triggering exclusions or defenses in marine policies.

The standard of care the assured must exercise, often expressed as the diligence of a prudent uninsured, to ensure the vessel is seaworthy and risks are properly managed.

An internal characteristic of goods that causes them to deteriorate or damage themselves without external cause, such as spoilage or spontaneous combustion, typically excluded from cargo cover.

The intentional throwing overboard of cargo or ship's gear to lighten or save a vessel in peril, which may give rise to general average contribution.

The insurer's right, after paying a claim, to step into the insured's shoes and pursue recovery from third parties responsible for the loss, limited to the amount paid.

A policy basis in which the insured value of the vessel or cargo is fixed in advance by agreement, and that amount is treated as conclusive in the event of a total loss.

A policy in which the insured property is valued at a stated amount agreed at inception, so that in a total loss the stated value is paid without further proof of actual value.