Carriage and Insurance Paid To and the wider default cover

An insurance obligation bolted onto an early delivery point

The seller contracts carriage to the named destination, hands the goods to the first carrier, and from that handover the buyer bears loss or damage. On top of that the seller must take out cargo cover for the buyer's benefit and provide the documentation needed to claim on it. The structure is deliberate: the party best placed to arrange transport and cover does so, while the party with the commercial interest in the goods holds the risk.

Why the default cover is the broad one

The current edition of the rules sets the default for this term at the wider all-risks style of institute clauses rather than the restricted named-perils version that applies under the maritime equivalent. The reasoning is that this rule is used for manufactured goods moving in containers and by air, where handling damage, water ingress and theft are the realistic exposures, and a named-perils policy would leave a buyer largely uncovered. Parties can agree to a lower level, but they have to do so expressly.

Cover has to run the whole way

The insurance is required to attach from the point of delivery and continue to the named destination. Because delivery can be an inland collection in the seller's country, the policy has to respond from that early moment rather than from a port or an airport. Buyers reviewing a certificate should check the attachment point, the destination, the sum insured, the currency and the claims agent at the destination, because those are the details that decide whether a claim is straightforward or an argument.

Choosing between this and a delivered term

This rule leaves the buyer holding risk and handling import formalities while the seller pays for the journey. A delivered term keeps the exposure with the seller all the way to a destination point instead. The choice turns on who can bear and manage transit risk and who can perform clearance at the far end, not on which term looks more generous in a quotation.

Frequently asked questions

Why does this rule default to broader cover than the maritime one?

Because the two terms serve different cargoes. The maritime term grew up in bulk commodity trades where restricted cover is the market norm, while this one is used for manufactured goods where handling and pilferage losses dominate. The rules reflect what each trade actually buys.

Can the parties agree less cover than the default?

Yes, by express agreement in the sale contract. What they should not do is stay silent and assume a supplier will buy the narrower policy because it is cheaper, since the default applies and a mismatch surfaces only when a claim is made.