The freight forwarder is responsible for the theft of the goods by the carrier, despite its verification on the TRANS.EU exchange!

Theft of goods by entities impersonating legally operating transport companies is not uncommon.

According to Art. 799 of the Civil Code "The freight forwarder is responsible for the carriers and sub-forwarders he uses to perform the order, unless he is not at fault in the choice". There is a misconception among forwarding companies that verification of the carrier on the TRANS.EU or TimoCom exchange relieves the forwarder of liability. Meanwhile, according to the jurisprudence of common courts, carrier verification using Trans or TimoCom transport exchanges is insufficient, precisely because of the common theft of goods by entities impersonating authentic carriers operating on the above-mentioned exchanges. This means that the forwarder in such situations is liable for the fault in the choice. Actions taken by the freight forwarder to verify the carrier give grounds for assuming that he did not exercise due diligence in the light of Art. 355 kc, and even committed gross negligence in this regard. Therefore, it is very important to have an OCS insurance policy with a wide scope to protect forwarders against such events.

Legal adviser Jerzy Klimkowski