Institute Tug Form News

5 ‘Gotchas’ of Marine Insurance

“Gotchas” are pitfalls, catches, bait and land mines – a kicker, snare or snag. They are surprises and, in the world of insurance, surprises are rarely a good thing. ‘Gotchas’ can be caused by different things. It may be the age of the coverage forms; it may be case law has moved on beyond the policy’s intent. Or, it may be there is a ‘disconnect’ between policy wording and current business practices. Sometimes, these things occur simply because some insurance contracts are impenetrable. Insurance policies are a distinctly difficult set of documents to understand.