It’s a common story. You think your insurance will cover your needs until an unforeseen situation shows the gaps in your coverage. This certainly applies to motor carrier’s insurance, which can contain limitations, perils, commodities exclusions, radius restrictions, and sanctions for criminal acts, unattended vehicles, or acts of God.

More complicated issues like double brokering a load or using a truck or trailer that doesn’t appear on the carrier’s cargo policy can have an enormous impact on insurance claims. In these complicated matters a broker’s goods could be traveling the highways without proper coverage—or they could be altogether unprotected.

Another issue affecting brokers is that, unfortunately, in these cases the burden of proof is typically on the cargo owner. This is difficult because the broker is expected to file charges against the carrier, but without the ownership or an insurable interest in the goods, the carrier is under no obligation to accept a loss or damage claim made against it by a freight broker. This is only one example of the many unexpected situations not covered by carrier’s insurance.

The bottom line is that this can leave you holding the bag—exposing you and your business to unexpected losses or, even worse, a damaged reputation.

That’s where Shipper’s Interest comes in. Shipper's Interest is a broker's insurance provided by Registry Monitoring Insurance Services, Inc. Shipper’s Interest protects the customer’s goods and covers many of the gaps that brokers who rely on carrier’s insurance are exposed to. It is designed to cover the unexpected risks. The policy covers up to $1,000,000 per shipment, and the coverage can be secured for individual or volume shipments. One major advantage to Shipper’s Interest is that it covers 100 percent of the actual invoiced sale: Carrier’s coverage limited liability offers much less compensation.

Here are some other benefits of Shipper’s Interest to your brokerage:

• Shipper’s Interest coverage will pre-approve broker’s commodities so there is no possibility of a commodity exclusion preventing claim payment.
• The coverage also protects your contracts with customers, which directly affects your shipment volume.
• Claims are paid directly to your customer on the actual value of the goods shipped.
• Shipper’s Interest will pay within 30 days of the submitted claim.

You are part of a complicated partnership with the goods supplier and the trusted carrier. So it is understandable that the insurance matters are equally complicated. The goal is for the broker not to have a false sense of security, while in reality being completely exposed to liability risks from any number of events that are not uncommon in freight transportation. Shipper’s Interest offers a way for you to turn a false sense of security into real security. Now that’s keeping your interests in mind.