A brand loses two thirds of its stock to water damage. It assumes the warehouse is insured, which it is, for its own building and its own liability, up to a limit calculated per unit of weight rather than per unit of value.
The settlement covers a fraction of the stock. Nobody concealed anything and nobody explained it either.
Why the gap exists
Because providers insure their operations and their liability, not the client's goods. And because brands hear warehouse insurance and assume their stock is covered for what it is worth.
Why liability is limited
Because a provider handling goods for fifty brands cannot underwrite the value of all of them. Limits are standard, frequently calculated by weight, and they bear no relation to the value of a light expensive product.
Explain the weight based limit plainly
With an example. A pallet of something light and valuable can be worth a great deal and weigh very little, and the limit follows the weight. Showing the arithmetic is what makes brands act.
Tell brands to insure their own stock
Explicitly, in writing, at onboarding. It costs a provider nothing and it prevents the worst conversation in the industry.
Explain what a brand's policy may not cover
Goods away from their own premises, goods in a third party warehouse or goods in transit. Brands assume their existing policy follows the stock and frequently it does not.
Explain what the provider's cover does include
Building, equipment, public liability and professional obligations. Being precise about what is covered makes the limits credible.
Publish the liability terms
The basis, the limit and any exclusions, in the contract and in plain language on a page. Brands who read it are the ones worth having.
Explain the claims process
What happens after a loss, what evidence is needed, who investigates and the timescale. Nobody wants to need it and everybody should see it.
Explain what happens with damage in handling
As distinct from a catastrophic event. Everyday damage, how it is recorded, who bears it and at what threshold, which is the ground in inventory visibility questions from brands choosing a 3PL.
Explain the transit position
Whether goods are covered in transit, by whom and under what terms. It is a separate question and it is usually a separate policy.
Explain any enhanced cover option
Where a provider can arrange additional cover, what it costs and how it is valued. Some brands will pay for it and are never offered it.
Ask about product value at enquiry
Because a high value low weight product changes the whole conversation, and it should be raised before a contract rather than after a loss.
Explain the security arrangements
Because brands asking about insurance are really asking whether their stock is safe, and describing the physical and procedural measures answers that.
Publish it with the exit terms
Because both are read by serious buyers at the same moment, as in exit and transfer questions brands should ask a 3PL and the customer facing consequence in is it in stock, the question retail websites fumble, with the same payment clarity people want in pet insurance and payment plan questions.
Getting started
Publish your liability basis with a worked example, tell brands to insure their own stock and answer cover questions at any hour. SpideyChat for logistics providers answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.