Insurance
Technical Assessment of Claim and Loss in Support of Insurance Underwriters
Insurance underwriters have increasingly called upon CECON experts for their variety of technical disciplines. CECON consultants have helped adjusters to determine the extent of losses in shipments, for example:
computer chips damaged in transit
dropped gigga bite disk storage cabinets
salt damaged injection molding equipment
damaged turbine engine from dropping
contaminated food stuff (grains)
alleged contamination of a bulk solvent shipped to the Far East
precision machinery.
The shipments involved have been made by air freight, truck and steam ship to a variety of destinations in the U.S. and around the world. CECON experts work closely with the insurance claims' adjuster, the shippers and the owner of the shipped product to determine a fair resolution of the damage and claim.
Insurance Advisory Opinion
Occasionally, CECON has been asked for an advisory opinion in advance of a shipment. For example:
An insurer wondered whether it would be safe to ship a particular kind of rocket with the fuel already inside, rather than shipping the rocket and the fuel in two separate shipments.
In two other cases, our insurance loss consultants were asked to advise on the best procedures and logistics that should be used in shipping a particular chemical to minimize insurance risks and losses.
We have even supplied insurance loss consultants to assess cargo handling equipment such as a shipboard crane.
Cargo Claim Loss Validation and Valuation
Following are some of the insurance loss cases we have handled for cargo insurers:
Injection molding equipment dropped in shipment; complex mold die for injection molding was a similar case.
Paints and raw materials for paints were damaged in a warehouse that lost its heating system during freezing weather.
Part of a ship cargo of bulk food was determined "possibly contaminated" but salvaged for animal feed.
An air shipment of silicon wafer chips were damaged. We arranged for the devices to be tested, thereby identifying undamaged parts.
X-ray equipment, highly sensitive to moving even within an office suite, had to be shipped. Damage did occur but our insurance loss expert determined that the damage could be repaired.
An antenna destined for satellite use was badly damaged during shipment from coast to coast by truck. Sophisticated calculations proved that the antenna damage occurred from a resonant vibration during shipment and not from being dropped.