Frequent practice of transport companies is to subcontract the transport of goods without properly checking the scope of protection that the contractor has in his OCP policy in domestic and international traffic.

And so, when the goods are stolen or damaged in transport, it turns out that the insurance does not protect against damage, e.g. due to gross negligence, driving under the influence of alcohol, or parking in the place where the vehicle stopped. As a consequence, the insurer refuses to pay compensation from the subcontractor's policy.

It should be remembered that the injured party has a claim directly to the contracting carrier, i.e. the one who commissioned the transport and is not interested in who actually carried out the transport. In such a situation, we have to use our own OCP policy. It's just that the payment of compensation from our policy will make the next policy several times more expensive than the previous one. Therefore, I recommend a thorough verification of OCP policies.

According to Art. 3 of the CMR Convention "In the application of this Convention, the carrier shall be liable as for its own acts and omissions as for the acts and omissions of its servants and of any other persons whose services it has recourse to for the performance of the carriage when such servants or persons are acting in the exercise of their functions."

If you have doubts about the scope of protection in your OCP policy or the policy of a subcontractor - call or write to us.

Legal adviser Jerzy Klimkowski