An insured event does not end with the discovery of damage or a shortage. After that it is necessary to record the condition of the cargo and the circumstances in which the problem was identified. The first hours after discovery are especially important for preserving the original signs. While the cargo is still in its initial position, it is possible to compare the damage with the packaging, the securing, the transport unit, the seals and the surrounding objects. After unloading, repacking or repair, part of this information may be lost irreversibly.
What happens after an insured event occurs
An insured event may be identified at any stage of transportation: during unloading, on acceptance at a warehouse, when a container is opened, or even after an external inspection if the damage turned out to be hidden. Regardless of the moment of discovery, the task is the same – to preserve the factual information about the condition of the cargo and the circumstances of the incident.
After the problem is discovered, the interested parties are notified in accordance with the established procedures. Depending on the situation, these may be the policyholder, the insurer, the carrier, the freight forwarder, the terminal and the warehouse. At the same time it is necessary to determine which operations with the cargo are really necessary and which can be postponed until the inspection.
The survey is then arranged. The specialist receives information about the event and the available documents, after which he inspects the cargo and the objects connected with it: the packaging, the securing, the container, the vehicle body, the railcar, the ship’s hold or the area of the warehouse. Inspecting such elements helps to compare the damage with the conditions in which it was discovered.
Preserving the initial condition does not mean that the cargo must remain motionless under all circumstances. If it poses a danger, obstructs the operation of transport, or there is a risk of further damage, the necessary measures are taken without waiting for the surveyor. It is desirable to record the condition before the intervention and then to document the actions carried out separately, so as to distinguish the initial consequences of the event from later changes.
If the cargo has already been moved or repacked before the specialist arrives, the survey can still provide useful information. However, part of the original signs will be lost, and the circumstances will have to be reconstructed from the surviving documents, photographs, packaging and the condition of the cargo. That is why prompt notification and an agreed procedure of actions after the discovery of damage directly affect how complete the subsequent examination will be.
What tasks a surveyor handles in an insured event
A survey in an insured event is not simply the photographing of damaged goods. The specialist records the condition of the cargo at a specific moment, identifies the object, describes the damage, inspects the elements connected with it and collects the available information for subsequent analysis.
The work begins with establishing the actual condition of the cargo. The marking and the documents, the number of packages, the condition of the products, the packaging, the containers, the pallets and the securing are checked. In the case of partial damage it is particularly important to separate the affected units precisely from the rest of the consignment.
The nature and extent of the damage are described separately: deformations, tears, dents, traces of wetting, contamination and destruction of the packaging. The wording must reflect the observable facts and not presume the cause: “deformation of the side wall” is the result of an inspection, whereas “the deformation was caused by an impact during loading” requires additional grounds.
The inspection may cover objects connected with the condition of the cargo. If goods inside a container are damaged, the container and its internal elements are assessed; if equipment is deformed, the securing and the available traces of contact; if there is wetting, the packaging and the possible sources of moisture. This helps to compare the signs identified with the conditions of transportation and storage.
The surveyor also analyses the available documents and information: transport documents, packing lists, data on the route and transshipments, photographs taken before dispatch, acceptance reports and materials from other parties to the transportation. Comparing them makes it possible to trace the change in the condition of the cargo at different stages.
As a result, what is formed is not a set of separate photographs but a documented body of facts and circumstances. It can be used in the subsequent examination of the insured event, but conclusions about insurance cover, contractual obligations or legal liability depend on the terms of the specific case and are not established automatically from the results of a single inspection.
Why delay complicates the investigation
After damage is discovered, the cargo rarely remains in its initial condition. It is unloaded, moved, opened, sorted and repacked, and damaged elements may be replaced. That is why a surveyor who arrives later sometimes inspects an already changed situation rather than the condition in which the cargo was discovered.
The physical signs of the event disappear the fastest. Damaged packaging may be thrown away, wet material dried, contamination removed, securing taken off. After unloading, the information about the position of the cargo relative to the walls of the container, the body or other objects is also lost.
Movement has a particularly strong effect on the possibility of reconstructing the circumstances of the incident. If displaced pallets or cargo units have already been rearranged, it is harder to establish their initial position, the condition of the securing and the relative arrangement of the damaged elements. Photographs taken before the movement become, in such cases, an important supplement to the subsequent inspection.
External conditions can also change the signs of damage. Moisture evaporates, packaging dries out and deforms, contamination is removed, and the effect of temperature or precipitation manifests itself differently over time. That is why in such events it is important to record the condition before it changes naturally or as a result of ordinary warehouse operations.
A separate problem arises with repair. Dismantling and replacing damaged parts makes it possible to restore the equipment more quickly, but after that the surveyor can no longer examine the original defect directly. Part of the analysis then has to be carried out from photographs, documents and the explanations of the parties.
That is why the promptness of a survey is not needed for the sake of a formal requirement to arrive as quickly as possible. Its meaning lies in minimising the changes between the discovery of the event and the professional recording. The fewer operations have been carried out during that time, the more initial data remains for subsequent analysis.
What must be recorded before the cargo is moved
Before unloading, sorting and movement it is important to record not only the damaged goods but also the situation around them. Once the position of the cargo changes, part of this information may be lost, so the inspection begins with the transport unit and gradually moves on to the cargo itself.
First of all, the condition of the container, the body, the railcar, the hold or another place of carriage is assessed. Deformations, openings, impact marks, contamination, signs of moisture penetration, and the condition of the doors, floor, walls and other accessible elements are recorded.
Seals and locks must also be identified: their numbers, condition and location recorded, and photographs taken if there is any damage. The condition of a seal does not by itself prove the cause of the damage, but it helps to compare the actual situation with the transport documents.
The packaging and the position of the cargo are then recorded. Boxes, crates, sacks, film, tapes and protective elements are inspected; tears, punctures, dents, traces of pressure or moisture are noted. At the same time it is necessary to determine where the damaged places were located relative to the walls, the floor, the doors and other cargo units.
Particular attention is paid to the securing. It is desirable to inspect straps, braces, anti-slip materials and other fixings before they are removed or their position is changed. Once the cargo has been moved, it is considerably harder to reconstruct the original securing scheme.
In the case of a shortage, the number of packages according to the documents is compared with the cargo actually presented. In the case of partial damage, the damaged, undamaged and inaccessible packages are designated separately.
Before unloading begins, it is advisable to record in sequence:
- the transport unit and its condition;
- the seals and locks;
- the position of the cargo units and the nature of their displacement;
- the packaging and the visible damage;
- the securing and its condition;
- traces of contact on the floor, walls, doors and other surfaces;
- the marking and identifiers of the cargo.
Such recording preserves not only the information about the damage itself but also its context. A photograph of a deformed box shows the result, whereas its position inside the container, the condition of the securing and the traces on the surrounding surfaces provide additional data for analysing the circumstances of the event.
Why it is important to inspect more than the damaged cargo
Damage to goods cannot always be assessed correctly without inspecting the objects with which they came into contact. Deformation of the packaging may be connected with the wall of the container, the side of the body or a neighbouring cargo, and damage to equipment with the securing or the elements of the transport unit. That is why examining the surrounding situation helps to consider the damage together with the accompanying signs.
The container, body, railcar, hold or other object of carriage is inspected: the floor, walls, doors, sides, corner fittings and accessible surfaces. Deformations, traces of impacts, friction, contamination and moisture that may be relevant to the condition of the cargo are recorded.
Of particular importance is the coincidence of signs in terms of location. For example, a deformation of the container wall located opposite a dent on the packaging provides additional information for analysing possible contact. However, even such coinciding traces do not automatically prove a specific mechanism of damage – it is assessed together with the other circumstances.
The means of securing are checked separately: straps, chains, braces, wooden structures and anti-slip materials. Their position, displacement, tears and deformations are recorded. In interpreting them it is necessary to take the sequence of events into account: damage to the securing could have led to the movement of the cargo, but it could also have occurred after that movement.
Useful information is sometimes provided by the neighbouring cargo units and the surfaces around them. Traces of contact, impact or friction on one object can be compared with damage to another, especially if their initial relative position has been preserved.
Not every trace found makes it possible to establish the time or the cause of its appearance. It may have existed before the incident or appeared during unloading and movement. That is why the surveyor records the location and the nature of the signs and assesses them together with the other data.
An early inspection is especially important for preserving this information. Once the securing has been removed, the container unloaded or the cargo rearranged, part of the traces may disappear and the connection between individual objects may become unclear. That is why examining the surrounding situation makes it possible to preserve not only the result of the damage but also the conditions in which it was discovered.
What happens if the surveyor arrives too late
A late attendance does not make the investigation impossible, but it reduces the volume of information that can be verified directly. The specialist has to reconstruct the initial picture from photographs, documents, the explanations of the parties and objects that may already have been changed.
After unloading, the initial position of the cargo relative to the walls of the container, the neighbouring packages and the securing is lost. The goods and the packaging can still be inspected, but establishing their position at the moment the damage was discovered becomes harder. This is particularly significant when analysing possible displacement, impact or contact with the elements of the transport unit.
Part of the data disappears when the packaging is opened or replaced. If the damaged packaging has been thrown away, replaced or dismantled, the link between the external traces of the impact and the condition of the contents is lost. That is why it is desirable to keep the packaging until the initial inspection, if the working conditions and safety allow.
Even more limitations arise after the repair of equipment. Straightened parts, replaced elements and cleaned surfaces no longer reflect the initial condition. In such a case photographs taken before the repair, service reports and the preserved damaged parts are used.
In a late inspection the role of the explanations of the parties also increases. They help to reconstruct the sequence of events but do not replace the direct recording of the object: over time it becomes harder to establish precisely when the damage was discovered and what actions were carried out after that.
If the situation has already been changed, the surveyor records the current condition, establishes which operations were carried out before his arrival and collects the available materials on the initial condition of the cargo. The report states separately which information was obtained during the direct inspection and which came from previously created documents, photographs or explanations.
That is why a delay usually does not deprive the investigation of evidence completely but reduces the number of signs that can be verified independently. The earlier the inspection is carried out, the more initial data is preserved for analysing the circumstances of the insured event.
How a timely survey improves the quality of the investigation
The value of a timely survey lies not in the speed of obtaining a conclusion but in preserving the initial data. An early inspection allows the specialist to see the cargo, the packaging, the securing and the surrounding situation before they are changed by unloading, movement, repair or repacking.
It is important to distinguish between a quick inspection and a quick conclusion. The first provides more facts for subsequent analysis, the second can lead to premature conclusions about the cause of the damage or about liability. The surveyor’s task is first to record the observable signs and then to compare them with the documents and the circumstances of the event.
An early inspection makes it possible to preserve at the same time:
- the condition and identification of the cargo;
- the position of the cargo units, the packaging and the securing;
- the transport unit, the neighbouring objects and the traces of contact;
- photographs, reports and other documents connected with the transportation.
These data complement each other. Damage to the packaging can be compared with the securing, the position of the cargo with the traces on the container wall, and the actual number of packages with the transport documents. After several movements or a repair, part of these connections may be lost.
Timely recording is useful to all parties to the transportation – the policyholder, the insurer, the carrier, the terminal and the warehouse. It makes it possible to record the condition before further operations and reduces the number of disputed questions about when a particular sign appeared and who could have observed it.
However, an early attendance does not by itself compensate for information that has already been lost. If the packaging has been destroyed, the cargo moved and the transport unit released, the specialist has to use photographs, reports, documents and the explanations of the parties. That is why, after the discovery of substantial damage, it is desirable not only to call a surveyor promptly but also to preserve the cargo and the materials connected with it until the inspection, as far as safety and work processes allow.
The optimal sequence is simple: preserve the facts, record the condition, compare the signs and the documents, and only then analyse the possible mechanism of the event. Such an approach makes it possible to separate the established damage from assumptions about its cause and to preserve the fullest possible basis for the subsequent insurance investigation.
If you need to carry out a survey after damage, a shortage or another insured event, please contact LVS Global. The earlier specialists gain access to the object and the initial materials, the more factual data can be preserved for the subsequent investigation.
