Time bar
The deadline after which the carrier cannot be sued at all.
Definition
Each carriage convention sets a period within which suit must be brought against the carrier: one year under the Hague-Visby Rules and US COGSA, one year under CMR (three where the loss was caused by wilful misconduct), two years under the Hamburg Rules and under the Montreal Convention for air. Several conventions also impose a much shorter notice period — three days for non-apparent sea damage, seven days under CMR, fourteen days for air cargo damage.
Why it decides money
A time bar extinguishes the right, and in some conventions it cannot be paused. Missing one destroys the recovery, which is an amount the insurer would otherwise have got back and may look to the insured for.
Related terms
- Subrogation
- The insurer stepping into your shoes to recover from whoever caused the loss.
- Carrier liability
- What the carrier owes by treaty — capped, usually by weight, never by value.
More in claims and recovery
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