Submit cargo claims on time and to the correct party

The Montreal Convention regulates carriers’ liability in international aviation. According to the Montreal Convention the carrier has a socalled ‘Obligation of Result’. For this reason, the carrier should deliver goods without delay and in the same condition as when the goods were accepted.

For the period that the goods are in the air carrier’s possession for their transport, the carrier is liable for damage and for losses due to delay. The air carrier shall not be liable for any consequential damage. In order to be able to make a claim for compensation it is important that this damage or loss is registered in a timely manner with the airline. The prescribed time limits are laid down in the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, Montreal, 28 May 1999.

The most common problems in claim handling are that claims are not submitted on time and not always with the correct party. This can lead to most unfortunate consequences if it actually comes to recovering costs from the airline. The airline will immediately refuse the claim in these circumstances as the claim had not been submitted on time and/or not submitted to the correct party.

In the case of damage, the addressee must file a complaint with the carrier immediately upon discovery of the damage or, at the latest, within seven

The most common problems in claim handling are that claims are not submitted on time and not always with the correct party.

Periods for submitting claims

Damaged baggage : immediately upon discovery, at the latest 7 days Damaged cargo : immediately upon discovery, at the latest 14 days Delayed baggage : at the latest 21 days after having been made available Delayed cargo: : at the latest 21 days after having been made available

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days for baggage and within 14 days for cargo goods calculated from the date of taking receipt of the goods. In the case of delay, the complaint must be registered within, at the latest, 21 days calculated from the day upon which the baggage or goods became available. Each complaint must be submitted in writing and either handed over or sent within the prescribed periods. In the absence of a complaint within the prescribed period, any legal claim against the carrier is inadmissible except in the case of fraud. To whom should the complaint be submitted? To the carrier involved in the contract of carriage. By whom should be the complaint be filed? By the shipper or consignee and anyone with a letter of authorization/ subrogation to file a claim on behalf of the forementioned parties. As the Montreal Convention makes clear, it is important that a complaint be submitted to the carrier in time. In practice, however, it still occurs that

the handling agent or another service provider is notified instead of the carrier because it is suspected that the damage occurred with one of these parties. However, in order to safeguard rights, it is to be recommended that, at all times, a claim be submitted to the carrier. Recovering losses from a party outside of the transport agreement only has a chance of succeeding if it can be proven that the CONTRIBUTING TO AN INCREASED COMPETITIVENESS OF THE AIR CARGO PRODUCTCONTRIBUTING TO AN INCREASED COMPETITIVENESS OF THE AIR CARGO PRODUCT damage resulted from a wrongful act. This could be with intent, or having knowledge that this action could lead to damage, but in virtually every case, this is not easy to prove.

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More information

Raoul Paul raoul.paul@cargohub.nl

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CONTRIBUTING TO AN INCREASED COMPETITIVENESS OF THE AIR CARGO PRODUCT

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