Marine Underwriting and Risk Prevention
Globally Insured
As a family-owned business for over 100 years, our company specializes in brokering insurance, particularly for a large number of corporate clients both domestically and internationally. A focal point of our activity is in the field of marine cargo insurance, especially in the insurance of steel transports worldwide.
In selecting insurers, we ensure that we only collaborate with top-tier companies specialized in transport insurance. The leading insurer is typically AXA Insurance AG - other risk carriers include Allianz, ERGO, and HDI Global.
Insuring marine cargo transports requires not only specialized knowledge about the products themselves but also high standards in the structuring of insurance policies.
- A distinctive feature of our company is that the master marine cargo contracts are not issued by the insurers but are created by us, based on a proprietary set of terms and conditions developed in-house. These conditions are annually revised and enhanced, taking into account the most recent experiences with claims.
- Hence, the scope of our master policies significantly surpasses the standard coverage concepts available in the market. Our policies are individually tailored to meet the specific needs of each client.
We see our primary task not only in providing you with optimal insurance coverage but in starting earlier with loss prevention. Based on our decades of experience, we have developed preventive concepts specifically for our steel clients, ensuring an optimal flow of all processes and excluding potential sources of damage as much as possible.
Our consultancy covers the entire supply chain, starting from the selection of supply plants, designing procurement terms and contracts, through the packaging of materials, pre-storage in the supply country, loading into sea vessels, protection during transportation, unloading, post-storage, and up to the subsequent onward transports.
We assist our clients in drafting procurement contracts and provide detailed packaging instructions, coupled with the offer to send renowned experts to the supply plants to optimize packaging.
Central to our loss prevention efforts are loading and unloading supervisions, which are conducted for all shipments. These supervisions ensure that proper procedures are followed during the loading and unloading of ships and that agreed-upon loss prevention measures, such as covering the cargo with plastic film, are adhered to.
Claims Handling: Insurers have granted us extensive powers for the settlement of cargo transport claims due to our decades of successful and trustful collaboration. This enables us to handle claims independently, without bureaucracy, and swiftly. Throughout the entire claims process, you have only one point of contact, meaning you communicate directly with us.
We guarantee that, upon receiving all documents, we will settle a claim within 7 days. In cases where the extent of the damage is not yet determined, we are capable of providing advance payments. In the event of a claim, we will collaborate with you to assess how the damage can be minimized and coordinate all necessary measures with you.
After the settlement of claims, we promptly initiate revoveries against the parties responsible for the damage, including shipping companies, carriers, freight forwarders, and warehouse keepers, after assessing the prospects of success. We utilize a network of lawyers specialized in maritime and other areas of transport law for this purpose. By realizing subrogation recoveries, we manage to relieve the burden on the master policies. This helps us avoid potential premium adjustments. In cases of favorable outcomes, you may even benefit from a share in the recovered amounts.
Long-standing Expertise in the Steel Sector
Our clientele includes renowned steel traders, producers or suppliers, steel service centers, and warehouse keepers worldwide. Thanks to these business relationships, some spanning decades, we possess detailed knowledge of every process in steel manufacturing, processing, and distribution, from raw materials to highly sensitive flat steel products.
- We are acquainted with our clients' sources of supply and thus have information on nearly all major supply plants, understanding how the material is handled and then shipped in various countries.
- To offer our clients optimal service, we collaborate with an established network of experts. Moreover, we consult with attorneys specialized in international transport law, enabling us to ensure professional management of all claims.
We systematically analyze damages and apply this knowledge purposefully in damage prevention.
Tailored Solutions
- Customized Transport/Warehouse Insurance Policies
- Analysis of Causes of Damage and Risk Potentials
- Seamless Security throughout the Entire Supply Chain
- Preventive Concepts for Claim Minimization
- Rapid Processing of All Claims Continuous
- Optimization of Insurance Policies
Our Claim Prevention System
- Factory Inspections to Enhance Packaging or Optimize Logistics, e.g., Transport to Ports, Storage, or Handling.
- Pre-Shipment, Loading, and Unloading Inspections
- Covering of Goods in the Hatch
- Ram-Neck Tape
Special Services from B&H
- Availability Beyond Office Hours
- Global Network of Attorneys and Experts
- Bordereau Agreements for Minor Claims
- Online Insurance Certificates
