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Inside a shipping container: steel frames shifted in transit, the stow collapsed.
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Cargo claims handling

The file run end to end: documentation, quantum, liability position and settlement recommendation. Service 12 — After the loss.

Astrid Groeneveld, CC BY-SA 3.0 · placeholder

When you instruct one.

  • A claim has been presented and somebody has to run it rather than merely receive it.
  • You are an insurer without a presence in the country where the loss happened.
  • The file has several parties and no single point of coordination.
  • You want the survey and everything that follows it under one instruction.

What we do.

  • 01Take the file in. Acknowledge, open, reference, and tell the claimant what is missing in one message rather than six.
  • 02Assemble the documentation. Shipping, commercial and survey documents, chased to completion.
  • 03Establish quantum. Independently, against policy terms, deductibles and sound values.
  • 04Form the liability position. Against the contract of carriage, the applicable convention and the evidence actually held.
  • 05Recommend a settlement. With the reasoning, so the recommendation can be tested rather than merely accepted.
  • 06Keep everyone told. Including when the answer is that nothing has moved, and why.

What you receive.

  • A claims file with a single reference and a single point of contact.
  • An independent quantum assessment against policy terms.
  • A reasoned liability position and settlement recommendation.
  • Regular status reporting for the whole life of the file.

What we need from you

  • The claim as presented, with whatever supports it
  • The policy or certificate, and its terms
  • The full shipping file
  • Your reserving and authority position

What we hold ourselves to

  • 2–24hA surveyor instructed from the network nearest the cargo.
  • 24–48hYour update on the appraisal, with photographs and the key information.
  • 72hThe detailed preliminary report, after the survey assessment.
  • 45 daysExpected turnover per mission. The final report follows the loss mitigation or destruction operation.

Attendance on site depends on distance to the port and on terminal and customs access, so that is confirmed on your file rather than promised as one number for every port on the continent.

Instruct this survey

They trust us already

Insurers · brokers · traders · logistics providers

26 marks, as listed in the Victor Surveys company profile. They are shown in black and white and return to colour on hover. Written consent to display a client’s mark is worth confirming before launch — several of these houses require it.

Instruct us on cargo claims handling.

Fill this in and it sends a complete instruction, already set to this service, straight to the claims desk.

Anything urgent, call instead. Johannesburg on +27 10 140 5760, Douala on +237 233 47 25 96.
Send what you have. Partial is fine — we will tell you what is missing.
Leave the cargo as landed where you can, until we attend.
Choose a location, or “Elsewhere in Africa”.
Tell us roughly what the cargo is.
Pick one, or “Not sure — please advise”.
Attendance
We need a working email address to reply to.
Two or three lines is enough to get a surveyor moving.

Goes straight to the claims desk, and a copy stays on your screen.