Sue and labour
Your duty to minimise a loss, and the insurer's duty to pay for the effort.
Definition
Clause 16 of the Institute Cargo Clauses. Where a loss is covered, the insured and their agents must take reasonable measures to avert or minimise it, and must preserve and exercise all rights against carriers, bailees and others. The insurer pays the reasonable charges of doing so, and Clause 17 records that measures taken by either side to save the property are not a waiver of anybody's position.
Why it decides money
Two duties hide in one clause. Reconditioning damaged goods is paid for; failing to hold the carrier liable in time is a breach that can reduce the claim by the amount of the recovery you destroyed.
Related terms
- Subrogation
- The insurer stepping into your shoes to recover from whoever caused the loss.
- Time bar
- The deadline after which the carrier cannot be sued at all.
More in claims and recovery
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