updated Aug19th,2025

Deliver with confidence.
CargoSHIELD+ is a smart, optional protection you can add to any shipment directly within your CargoAi booking workflow. It offers fast, automated compensation in the event of a delay or damage, without the need for traditional claims processes. Built with licensed insurance partners and powered by CargoAi’s tracking data, it gives freight forwarders peace of mind — port to port.

This is the first time there is an offer for parametric coverages that address financial risks for delayed cargo in transit in the Air Cargo, which are traditionally excluded from standard policies.

💡 Why CargoSHIELD+?

12h+ delay? You get paid.
Automatic payout if your shipment arrives more than 12 hours after its scheduled arrival time.
Transparent pricing.
Based on risk data and your cargo value. You see the cost upfront, no hidden fees.
Instant setup.
No forms, no brokers. Just one click at the time of booking.
Backed by licensed insurers.
Underwritten by Ensuro Re Ltd. and powered by Otonomi.

🧾 What’s Covered?

Delay Coverage

Covered Events	Not Covered
✅ Arrival delay >12 hours	❌ Strike, customs, or cyber attacks
✅ Rerouted shipments	❌ Rerouting not declared in advance (>48h)

Damage Coverage

Covered Events	Not Covered
✅ Physical damage	❌ Cargo declared illegal/hazardous
✅ Full air freight value (up to $100,000)

Commodity Group	Deductible
General Merchandise	$500
New Household Electronics	$1,000
New Automobiles	$500
Pharmaceuticals	$2,500
Aircraft Parts	$0

🧮 How We Calculate Delay

Scheduled Arrival Time:
The final arrival time is locked once the first flight is departed. This could be different of the arrival time in the first booking to prevent from cases where the acceptance is done but airline is still missing some documents so the first flight has to be rebooked.
Actual Arrival Time:
Determined using the ARR event or the last leg with a known actual arrival timestamp.
Trigger condition:
If Actual Arrival ≥ Scheduled Arrival + 12 hours → your claim is triggered.

💲 How much do I get paid if I select delay

The "Value to Protect" in the form is the "Coverage". You should input not more than the cost of airfreight.

By default the trigger is 12hours delay but for shipments with more than 2 stopovers, the trigger will become 24hours and same mechanism will apply.

💳 How can i get the protection for a shipment

You book a shipment on CargoMART and you can then select to get this protected on the shipment page.
You pay after you selected this service via Bank Card or one of our local payment method via our CargoWALLET.
If shipment is cancelled:
- You’ll be refunded automatically
If a claim is triggered:
- You’ll be notified automatically.
- Payment will be processed to you within 7 days.

📋 Frequently Asked Questions

❓ Is this insurance?
CargoSHIELD+ is a service powered by licensed insurers (PATRIA RE). While we at CargoAi are not licensed insurance brokers, this protection is issued as a parametric insurance policy — with clear payout rules triggered by objective events.

❓ What is the “Limit of Coverage” vs. “Risk Limit”?

Risk Limit: The total value covered (e.g., $10,000 for one unit policy).
Limit of Coverage: The actual payout amount predefined for this shipment (e.g., $500), minus any deductible (0% in our case).

❓ Can I update or cancel my booking after purchase?
Yes, but:

The scheduled arrival time is locked at the first actual DEP milestone. Changes before this milestone will update the schedule arrival and affect protection.
You need to write to us and we will refund manually if the AWB hasn't moved yet (before first DEP)

❓ What happens if the flight is rerouted?
If your booking is AWB-based (default on CargoAi), rerouting is covered automatically. What matters is the actual arrival vs. the scheduled arrival locked at the first DEP milestone.

❓ How is the price calculated?
Based on:

Historical delay probability
Route and carrier risk profiles
Cargo value and destination

❓ What if I have other insurance?
CargoSHIELD+ pays you fast regardless. If another policy also applies, insurers may handle recovery between themselves. Most traditional policies exclude delays, which is where CargoSHIELD+ is unique.

❓ How do I file a claim?
You don’t. Claims are automatic:

If the delay trigger is met → you’re notified and paid.
For damage cover, you may be asked to confirm value and loss amount.

❓ Who’s behind CargoSHIELD+?

Insurance Partner: PATRIA RE (Rated A “Excellent” by AMBest/Fitch)
Platform Provider: Otonomi, Inc.
Insurance Broker: Anthola Brokers Ltd.
Powered by: CargoAi’s real-time air cargo tracking

❓ I already have access to liability coverage provided by the carrier, why do I need additional delay service?
CargoSHIELD+ uniquely bridges the gap in excluded cargo delays and offers supplemental service that covers consequential losses due to delayed shipments.

Carrier liability is provided by the cargo carrier and insures the cargo by weight and does not take in account the value of the cargo. Shippers end up recouping pennies on the dollar. Shippers augment carrier liability with cargo insurance which protects goods against damages and losses but does not protect against delay. We are an add-on to the regular cargo insurance.

Generally cargo liability insurance excludes delay as a peril, and our product fills that gap.

❓ In what case do I need Cargo Delay service, if I ship FOB (Free On Board) or CIP (Carriage Insurance Paid)?
In both cases, someone is bearing the risk of delayed shipments.
If you ship CIP, you’re responsible for insurance and therefore our delay service bridges the gap in coverage.
If you ship FOB and the receiver is responsible for insuring the cargo, we recommend that the receiver obtains the delay service in case some unexpected event delays the cargo transit and results in financial losses.

❓ I have been shipping hundreds of cargoes, I never suffered a loss. What are the chances I need Delay service?
You got lucky. An increasing % of cargo shipments are delayed every year.
Besides geopolitical and macro environment concerns, events like the CrowdStrike Outage, natural catastrophes or severe weather can occur and are out of your control. Existing risk assessment models indicate that approximately 30% of losses cannot be prevented.
That’s why we created CargoSHIELD+.

❓ What limit is insured under a Cargo Delay policy?
We offer customers cargo delay service limits from: USD $1,000 up to USD $250,000.

Customers can select the limit amount that best aligns with their Business Interruption costs associated with the delay. For example, if a customer is shipping perishables whose delay can cause $100,000 penalties for instance, then they might choose $100,000 as their limit.
Some customers choose limits based on 10 - 20% percentage of the value of the product being shipped, when they fear potential cargo destruction or spoilage (perishables) due to delayed transportation.

❓ What is Parametric Delay Insurance?
The service use what is called Parametric Insurance coverage, which solely relies on a specific trigger to activate the claim, which is the transit time delay.
When the delay is recognized via our third-party and independent API data feed the policy triggers a claim to the customer who opts in to receive the claim proceed.

The process is simple: your cargo arrives at the airport of loading and it's loaded onto the carrier flight for departure. Once the cargo departs after the Actual Time of Departure or ATD, then your policy starts. When the Actual Time of Arrival or ATA exceeds the threshold, your policy is triggered and you get paid automatically.

❓ What delay triggers do you offer?
We propose three different triggers: 6-hour, 10-hour, 12-hour, and 24-hour delays.

❓ What is the payout structure?
Our payout structure provides fast partial compensation when the delay trigger activates, followed by gradual payments for extended delays.

Payout Structure:

50% on trigger date.
and 5% for any additional 6 hours of delay up to 100% payout.

Example:
A customer purchases $10,000 coverage on a 12-hour trigger air policy, with ETA = 14-Jul-2025 @6:00AM UTC.
If the ATA = 15-Jul-2025 @1:00AM UTC, then the customer receives a payout of $5,500, which represents 55.0% of the $10,000 coverage limit, since:

Trigger date/time = 14-Jul-2025 @6:00PM UTC => 50%.
And 15-Jul-2025 @1:00AM UTC is 7 hours in excess (full tranche of 6 hours) of the trigger date/time => 1 x 5% = 5%.
Total = 55.0% (=50%+5%) * $10,000 = $5,500 payout.

Key Benefits

Speed: Immediate liquidity when trigger activates.
Certainty: No subjective claims assessment.
Fairness: Compensation scales with duration of impact.
Transparency: Clear, predefined payout schedule.

❓ What information do I need to bind a policy?
You may use:

Your Master AirWaybill (AWB)
Or by flight numbers.
Or by route: select an airport of loading and discharge for an instant quote.

❓ How do you determine ETA in your policy?
CargoSHIELD+ determines what we call an “Insurable Estimated Time of Arrival” (Insurable ETA).

The timestamp is a given data published by our visibility platform providers.
The Insurable ETA is “frozen/determined” when the first leg of the shipment departs from the Origin Airport.
It represents the contractual estimated time of arrival at the final airport (“Arrival” Time) for the end-to-end air shipment (AWB or Multi-flight booking).

❓ Do you cover bumped cargo at departure?
We currently do not cover delays due to bumped cargo at departure.
We might add that feature to our risk offering in the near future.

❓ Does the Cargo Delay Policy have exclusions?
Our insurance policy follows standard language when it comes to wording exclusions. These are the current exclusions in the terms: Cyber risks, War & Terrorism, Sanctions, Communicable Disease, Strike, Insured misconduct, dishonesty or misrepresentation, Illegal or hazardous cargo.

CargoSHIELD+ Cargo Delay Policy: Exclusion Guidelines

Air Freight Cancellations
- Covered: All air freight moving under an AirWaybill (AWB).
- Excluded: On-board courier (OBC)/handcarry service with:
  - Individual flight bookings.
  - Individual passenger flights without tracking ID or AWB.
  - Charter services are covered when trackable.
Strikes & Labor Disputes
- Covered: Shipments booked before a strike becomes official.
- Excluded: Shipments booked after strike announcement with the following notice periods: For Air shipments -> 6-hour notice before underwriting suspension.
War & Terrorism
- Covered: Shipments booked before an act of war becomes official.
- Excluded: Shipments booked after the act of war announcement with the following notice periods: For Air shipments -> 6-hour notice before underwriting suspension.
- Excluded: Delays caused by a recognized terrorist attack.
Illegal Cargo
- Excluded: Any shipment found to contain illegal drugs or weapons (including nuclear).
Sanctions
- Excluded: Policies cannot be sold to end-clients sanctioned by OFAC.
Communicable Diseases/Pandemics
- Excluded: Delays caused by officially recognized communicable diseases (e.g., COVID-19).
Policyholder Misconduct
- Excluded: Delays caused by misconduct, dishonesty, or misrepresentation by the policyholder.
Missing Documentation
- Excluded: Delays caused by documentation not provided by the insured or improper documentation status (e.g., non-translated documentation).
- This provision follows our “Maintenance of Records” clause which requires the insured to maintain proper documentation on the insured shipments.

❓ Do I need to file a claim? Do I need to justify a loss?
CargoSHIELD+ will do all the work for you. No need to lift a finger. When our system detects a delay for your air cargo shipment, your policy is triggered and your delay claim is paid in a few days. No need to justify a loss.

Automatic claim timelines:

Resolution (72 hours): When the ATA is received from our supply chain data visibility provider, ATA and Claim validity are determined within 72 hours. An automatic email notification is then sent to the insured.
Payment (14 days): When the ATA is resolved and the Claim is eligible for payment, settlement is done within 14 days.

❓ When do I get paid?
As soon as our platform detects your delay, our platform will automatically start the process of resolution of the policy. If the policy is triggered, you can get your claimed money within 14 days.
Note that claims will only be processed as long as the premium due have been paid by the customers.

❓ What kind of losses can be mitigated using CargoSHIELD+ delay service?
These are the risks and exposures we help you cover: cargo destruction, business interruption, consequential damages, commodities price loss, additional cost of funding, extra logistical expenses, and reputational risks.
The best part is you may use the claim fund the way you want.

❓ How do I know my shipment was delayed?
Our platform automatically detects shipment delays. We use several advanced monitoring systems to get real-time information about freight shipments including our CargoCONNECT Tracking API, FlightAware, the carriers tracking systems, and others.

We detect air cargo delays through several advanced technological methods like data-activated triggers and smart contracts to detect delays in air shipments. We created an automated system that can independently track and verify when shipments are delayed. We implement "secure and independent alerts" to notify carriers about interruptions. Our blockchain-powered system reduces fraud risk and enables quick detection and verification of delay events in air shipping. We have partnered with leading air tracking solution providers to enhance our delay detection capabilities for air freight. This automated detection system enables us to reduce air cargo claim resolution times from the industry standard of 45 days to as little as 45 minutes in some cases.

❓ Do you offer this service for both US and International destinations?
Yes.

❓ Do you offer this service on a per-shipment basis or as an annualized contract which covers all the shipments against delays?
We offer this :

On Demand: transact when you need our delay service. You will get charged each time the prevailing premium rate.
Annual policy: bespoke annual policies for larger shipment volumes. Annual plans give the lowest rates and best conditions.

❓ How do I pay for the service ?
If you use CargoSHIELD+:

On Demand: settle premiums via bank transfer or credit card at checkout.
Annual policy (Deposit Premium): pay an initial deposit premium against which CargoSHIELD+ subtracts. Top-up when balance is low.
Annual policy (On Demand): premiums settled monthly with 30 days to pay.

❓ What happens if the cargo is damaged, lost, or missing either in transit?
In case of physical losses and damages, we also offer traditional cargo insurance. You may bind cargo and delay service coverage in one unified booking experience thanks to our online Cargo+ offer. (Cargo+Delay)

🔐 Legal Disclaimer

CargoAi is not a licensed insurance provider. CargoSHIELD+ is a protection service offered in partnership with licensed insurers. Compensation is based on objective event data and predefined thresholds.

Limitation of Liability

CargoAi acts solely as the referral agent and platform provider. CargoAi is not liable for payouts, claims decisions, delays in payment, or disputes between the policyholder and insurer.

Governing Law

This agreement is governed by the laws of Singapore unless otherwise required by local jurisdiction. Disputes may be escalated to the insurer or resolved via arbitration.