The recent war escalation, or rather, the incident between the American drone and the Russian fighter plane, serves to remind us of the application of war and strike coverage for insurance policies.
The policies contemplate the “ordinary” risks of transport or navigation, expressly excluding the risks of war and strike, which must be contracted or “extended”, by means of a premium, coverage and separate clauses, which is usual in the insurance market. Spanish. For simplicity, we are talking about the Institute War Clauses (Cargo) and Institute Strikes Clauses (Cargo), for merchandise, and the Institute War & Strikes Clauses Hulls – Time, for helmets.
In general, these clauses cover losses or damages suffered by the insured object, that is, physical damage, as a consequence of acts of war, civil war, rebellion, capture, arrest, seizure or detention, confiscation, strikers or people who take part in labor disturbances; Likewise, damages caused by terrorist acts or maliciously for political reasons are covered. Practice reflects that an “official declaration” of war is not necessary to consider an armed conflict.
In the case of detention, if the ship had been captured, arrested, detained, confiscated or expropriated, that is, the owner had been deprived of its use for a continuous period of 12 months, it will be considered that it has been without probability of recovery, which affects your constructive total loss consideration.
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This is an “extraordinary” coverage, and really designed for times of peace, but extraordinary circumstances may occur that alter it, which is why the policies grant an extension period, or rather a notice of cancellation of 7 days (from the Notice of Cancellation), and the possibility of maintaining coverage, by paying a premium, if applicable.
However, the coverage granted by these clauses will automatically end, among other reasons, due to the hostile detonation of a nuclear weapon, or the outbreak of a war (whether expressly declared or not) between the following countries: United Kingdom, USA. USA, France, Soviet Socialist Republics and China.
We have already seen the application of these coverages in cases of detention of ships in conflictive waters, let us hope that this incident does not imply an escalation of warfare that affects everyone.
