Goods

In marine insurance this means ‘goods in the nature of merchandise. It does not include personal effects or provisions and stores for use on board (Marine Insurance Act 1906, Schedule, Rules for Construction of Policy, rule 17). This rule also provides that deck cargo and living animals must be specifically insured and not insured as goods unless it is customary to do so.
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Goods mean goods in the nature of merchandise and does not include personal effects or provisions and stores for use on board.

Goods …… in trust or on commission

‘Goods in trust’, when written in a policy, does not imply a technical trust but includes holding goods as a bailee. ‘Goods held on commission’ has a more restricted meaning and refers to property entrusted to the insured for the purpose of sale. The phrase as a whole is wide enough to cover not only the insured’s interest but also the full value of the goods. Any sum the insured recovers above his own interest is held in trust for the owners. See GOODS IN TRUST OR ON COMMISSION FOR WHICH THE INSURED IS RESPONSIBLE; ON GOODS.

Goods in transit insurance

Covers goods in transit by land (or by land and sea). Cover is either on (a) the goods protecting the owner’s interest; or (b) the liability when a road haulier carries customers’ goods. The goods owner insures ‘all risks’ cover up to an amount per specified vehicle or per consignment when using other transport modes. The haulier can insure on a specified vehicle basis or, on a declaration basis, by estimating annual haulage charges with a selected limit of indemnity. Cover, within the territorial limits, applies during loading, carriage, unloading or temporary garaging of vehicles or trailers. Insurance may include loss/damage to sheets, ropes, clearing up, repackaging and re-sorting following an accident. See ROAD HAULAGE ASSOCIATION CONDITIONS OF CARRIAGE; HAULIERS LIABILITY POLICY.
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A typical Insurance in one which cover all risks of loss or damage from time goods began to be loaded on to a vehicle until the time that unloaded at destination. On the other hand, as an alternative, to cover only specified perils such as damage by Fire, loss or damage by theft, or pilferage and of limited do damage by Fire, loss or damage by theft, or pilferage and limited to damage caused by collision or overturning of the vehicle. Policies may be extended to cover transshipment or storage at the end of a transit or at destination.

Goods in trust or on commission for which the insured is responsible

The addition of the phrase ‘for which the insured is responsible’ to the phrase ‘goods in trust or on commission’ restricts cover to the interest of the insured and does not extend to cover the proprietary interests of other persons in the goods. The owners of goods were not protected when a fire occurred at the insured’s warehouse as the insured item protected only the warehouse proprietor’s interest (North British and Mercantile Insurance Co. v. Moffat (1871).

Gradually operating causes

Causes that result in loss over time, e.g. rust, corrosion and normal wear and tear. No fortuitous element is present and compensation for the reduction in value would contravene the principle of indemnity. Wear and tear, etc., is specifically excluded from all risks’ policy but ‘new for old’ and reinstatement policies modify the principle of indemnity.

Grant of probate

The legal process of proving a will, appointing an executor and settling an estate; but by custom, it has come to be understood as the legal process whereby a deceased person’s estate is administered and distributed. Where the deceased dies intestate the deceased’s legal personal representative is called an administrator.

Great Fire of London

London’s largest fire. It occurred in 1666 and started in Pudding Lane. It spurred the development of fire insurance. Previously fire damage compensation was funded by charitable donations and collections from guilds of craftsmen and churches. The Fire Office, formed in 1680, is generally regarded as the first fire insurance company although records indicate that fire insurance was transacted in 1667. For other historical aspects see fire marks and the Tooley Street fire.