Force majeure circumstances and Insurance. Principles of Insurance. Claims and sanctions. Arbitration

Force majeure circumstances and insurance

it has become common practice to insure goods against losses that may be the result of various events, including force majeure circumstances. Force majeure is a force against which you cannot act or fight. Every contract has a force majeure clause. It usually includes natural and political disasters. Natural are acts of God - such as an earthquake, floods, volcano, fires, etc. and political disasters list such contingencies as acts of foreign enemies, wars, terrorist activities and crimes, embargo, military or political power. Thus, a force majeure is the force, which prevents the fulfilment of a contract. For events to be considered as force majeure in international law, must pass three tests: Externality,  Unpredictability, Irresistibility .

Notification of contingencies.

In the case of a contingency, the seller must notify the buyer of a force majeure immediately. If it is done in due time, the buyers may take immediate action to protect their interests. They may sign a contract with another supplier on similar terms. A force majeure must be a proven fact. The seller is to send to the buyer a written confirmation issued by the Chamber of Commerce to this effect.It describes its nature and confirms its duration. The duration of a force majeure is as a rule four or six months. After that the buyers have the right to cancel the contract. The sellers in this case have no right to claim any compensation for their losses.

Insurance is the use of contracts to reduce and redistribute risk. The role of insurance is very high. The main idea of insurance is to get indemnity in case of damage or loss. In an insurance contract, the insurer accepts a fixed payment, or premium, from the insured, and in return undertakes to make payments if certain events occur.

There are two types of insurance: indemnity insurance, which provides an indemnity against loss (e.g. a fire policy); and contingency insurance, which involves payment on a contingent event and in which the sum paid but stated in the policy (e.g. a life policy).

1/Accident insurance includes a wide variety of policies, dealing mainly with loss of property. One of the biggest sections is burglary insurance.

2) Fire insurance includes a number of risks connected with fire, explosion, flooding, earthquake,

3) Life insurance includes such insurances connected with  person’s death, or the date a person reaches a certain age..

4) Marine insurance is the oldest of the four main classes of insurance, dealing with a variety of policies that give cover to owners of ships, their cargoes and of other marine property against damage or loss caused by marine

Principles of Insurance

Utmost good faith When filling out a form applying to take out insurance, one party is obliged to tell the truth about the value and condition of the goods to be insured and also to mention anything which might increase the risk of the goods.

-Insurable interest Generally this means that you can insurance your own property, but not someone else’s.

-IndemnityThe idea of indemnity is that if the insured has a loss, they have to be paid sufficient compensation to bring them back to the same financial condition as they were in before the loss

-Subrogation is the substitution of one person for another so that the person substituted succeeds to the rights of the other.

Insurance Policies

Under marine insurance, the main document is an insurance policy. It is issued by the insurer and contains the terms and conditions of the insurance contract.

-. A form of insurance against loss of the ship is called hull insurance and a policy is called a hull policy. -Cargo policies cover the goods carried on board the ship, but not the ship itself.

An insurance policy for a particular journey is called the voyage policy. This type of policy covers the ship and/or cargo against risks arising in the course of only one voyage of any duration. The time policy is used most often. It covers all shipments made within a specified period of time.

The next kind of policies, which is used by those who have frequent shipments, is the floating policy. The open policy. It gives cover either for a fixed period, usually 12 months, after which it automatically expires,. With the open policy, the insured agrees to have all consignments insured by a particular insurer

Marine losses

In marine insurance losses fall into two main categories: Total Loss and Partial Loss. Both are again subdivided. Total Loss can either be Actual Total Loss (ATL), where vessels or cargos are totally and irretrievably lost, or Constructive Total Loss (CTL) in a case where the ship or the goods have been abandonedbecause the cost of recovery would have been out of proportion to the value.

In the case of a Partial Loss, are subdivided in Particular Average and General Average. In marine insurance “average” means loss or damage. If a particular cargo is lost or damaged because of an accident, e. g. sea-water or fire on board the ship, the damage is called “Particular Average” and the loss must be compensated by the owner of this individual consignment. “General average” includes a loss because of intentionallyinterest of the shipowner and the owners of the various cargoes, both the ship owner and the cargo owners must bear the losses in proportion.

Claims and sanctions. Arbitration.

Pros and cons of application of national and international legislation in contracting.