Cargo Coverage · Canada & USA
Carrier liability is capped by law, often at a few dollars per kilogram, and it only pays if you can prove the carrier was at fault. Cargo insurance covers the declared value of your goods. The difference is usually most of what the shipment is worth, which is why cover is arranged as part of our reliable freight management services.
$4.41 Per Kilogram
what road carrier liability is capped at in Ontario
$4.41/kg
Ontario road carrier liability cap
Declared Value
What cargo insurance covers instead
All Modes
Road, rail, air and ocean
Per Shipment
Or an open policy covering everything
The Basic
Almost every shipper assumes that if a carrier loses or damages their goods, the carrier pays for them. That is not how it works. Carrier liability is a legal framework designed to limit what a carrier owes, not to make you whole. It is capped by weight rather than value, so a light, expensive shipment is barely covered at all. It is also fault-based, which means you have to prove the carrier was negligent before anything is paid, and carriers have a list of recognised defences including acts of God, inadequate packaging by the shipper and inherent vice, which means goods that damage themselves through their own nature, a risk we help clients plan around through professional managed logistics. Cargo insurance works differently. It covers the value you declare, it does not require you to prove fault, and it pays regardless of whether the carrier was to blame.
The Cost Of Assuming You Are Covered
The gap is easiest to understand with weight and value side by side. Under Ontario regulation, a road carrier’s liability is limited to $4.41 per kilogram of cargo unless you declare a higher value in advance. Take a pallet of electronics weighing 200 kilograms and worth $60,000. If that pallet is destroyed, carrier liability caps out at roughly $880, and only if fault can be proven. You absorb the rest, a risk we help account for across our supply chain management work, and where damaged goods need to come back for assessment, our reverse logistics service handles that leg. The lighter and more valuable your goods, the wider that gap becomes, which is why electronics, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and precision equipment are the categories that get caught out most often. Premiums for cargo insurance are typically a small fraction of a percent of the declared value, so the cost of covering that same shipment properly is normally a very small sum against the loss it prevents.
Our services
Cover for a single shipment, or a policy that covers everything you send.
Per-Shipment Cover
Cover arranged for individual shipments, suited to occasional high-value loads.
Open Cargo Policy
A continuous policy covering all qualifying shipments automatically, without arranging cover each time.
Liability Limits
The maximum a carrier owes, before any question of fault is settled.
Road, Ontario: $4.41 Per Kg
Road, Uniform Conditions: $2.00 Per Lb
Ocean: Roughly $750 Per Package
International Air: Roughly $20 Per Kg
Domestic Air: $0.50 Per Lb
Undeclared Value: The Cap Applies
Two things about that table catch shippers out. The first is that every figure is a maximum rather than a payment, because liability is fault-based and the burden of proving negligence sits with you. The second is that declaring a higher value with the carrier is a separate step that has to happen before the shipment moves, and usually attracts a charge, a detail our professional transportation management systems flag automatically at booking. If nobody declared a value, the cap applies regardless of what the goods were worth. Limits also vary between provinces and by the specific terms on the bill of lading, so treat these as the general picture rather than a guarantee for your shipment.
Read The Exclusions
If goods were not packed well enough for normal transit, damage caused by that packaging is generally excluded.
Damage a product causes itself through its own nature, such as fruit ripening or metal rusting, is normally outside cover.
Financial loss caused by a shipment arriving late is usually excluded, even when the delay is the carrier’s fault.
Declaring less than the goods are worth reduces what a claim pays, and can affect the claim entirely.
Commonly excluded from standard cover, though some can be added back as specific extensions.
Many policies limit or exclude theft from unattended vehicles, which is worth checking against how your freight actually moves.
Pricing
Premiums are set by the insurer based on what you ship and how it moves.
What the goods are worth
How fragile, valuable or theft-prone the goods are
Road, air, ocean or rail, and where it travels
All-risk or named perils, and the deductible chosen
Tell us what you ship and what it is worth. We will arrange a quote through a licensed provider and explain what the cover does and does not include.
Client Experience
“We lost a pallet of equipment and assumed the carrier would cover it. What came back was calculated on weight and did not come close. That was an expensive lesson in what carrier liability actually means.” ‘
Finance Manager
Electronics Distributor, Mississauga
“Our shipments are light and expensive, which is the worst combination for liability limits. Moving to a policy covering everything we send removed a risk we had been carrying without really understanding it.”
Operations Manager
Medical Equipment Supplier, Burlington
Common Questions
Only up to a legal limit based on weight, and only if you can prove the carrier was at fault. That limit is usually far below the value of the goods.
Carrier liability is a legal cap on what a carrier owes when found at fault. Cargo insurance is cover you arrange on the value of your goods, which pays regardless of who was to blame.
It is the limit on road carrier liability set by Ontario regulation, applied to the weight of the cargo rather than its value, unless a higher value was declared in advance.
All-risk covers physical loss or damage from most external causes, subject to the exclusions listed in the policy. Named perils covers only the specific causes listed, at a lower premium.
Both are possible. Per-shipment cover suits occasional high-value loads. An open policy automatically covers all qualifying shipments and is usually better value for regular shippers.
Premiums are normally a small fraction of a percent of the declared value, varying by commodity, mode and route. We will get you a quote through a licensed provider rather than estimate it here.
Commonly excluded are inadequate packaging, inherent vice, delay, and war or nuclear risks. Exclusions vary by policy, so read the wording you are offered.
Report the loss promptly, keep the damaged goods and packaging, and gather the paperwork including the bill of lading and delivery receipt. Our team helps assemble what the insurer needs, though the claim is settled by the insurer.
Cover is arranged through licensed insurance providers. We help you understand what your freight needs and put you in front of the right provider.
Tell us what you ship and what it is worth. We will explain the gap and arrange a quote through a licensed provider.
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