Trade insurance - earn your peace of mind

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Bikky Khosla | 01 Feb, 2011
We can't deny the fact that export-import business is laden with various unforeseen uncertainties. There have been many cases wherein exporters had to undergo huge losses because they were unable to foresee these uncertainties. And while these uncertainties will continue to exist in the export-import business, exporters can, however, protect themselves from the losses if they are intelligent enough.

Most of us are aware as to how to protect our transactions; a simple letter of credit works wonders when it comes to protecting payments. But what if while sending the goods they get delayed or are damaged? What if the goods are lost in transit? There have been several occasions where incidents of loss of goods or delay in delivering the goods have led to strained relations between a buyer and seller for no reason or fault of theirs.

Thus, insuring your goods could be the solution. No matter which side of the transaction you fall on (whether you are a buyer or a seller), getting an insurance takes a lot of the fear and uncertainty out of your business, especially when you are doing business with an overseas buyer or seller. Taking an insurance against your goods will certainly set you on the right path to making the right kind of decisions, and will ensure your viability in the market for years to come.

The interesting part is, however, that most buyers and sellers feel that the process of insuring their goods is time-consuming, expensive, involves lots of paperwork and only adds to the many hassles they already face. Many also argue that taking claims can be painstaking because many insurance companies are not supportive while processing the claims. While we can dwell on the endless excuses on not taking an insurance on the goods to be traded, we are being short-sighted in overlooking the benefits of insuring our goods. The single-most benefit for paying a small premium could be the peace of mind you earn for yourself.

Having said that, being a businessman, you would probably be a better judge on whether to insure your goods or not. Do you find insurance of goods costly and a wasted exercise or is taking claims painful, time consuming or not worth the effort? Share with us incidents where you had insured your goods and had benefited or where it didn't work for you. Your experience and thoughts can help others in choosing insurance and in getting their goods secured.