A recovery claim is the other half of a cargo claim: you (or your insurer) have already paid a customer for loss or damage, and now you try to get that money back from the carrier, trucker, airline, terminal or warehouse that actually had the goods. It is won or lost on dates and paperwork, not on who was at fault. The notice windows are short (as little as three days at sea and seven days by road), the suit deadlines are usually one or two years from delivery, and the clock does not start when you pay your customer. This post is the recovery side only. The claim against you is covered in handling a cargo claim against your forwarding business, and the shipper's filing steps are in how to file a cargo claim.
Why a recovery claim is a different job from a customer claim
A customer claim is a relationship problem. A recovery claim is a legal one: the carrier owes you nothing except what the law and its contract say. Three consequences follow.
- The carrier never got your customer's complaint unless somebody sent it. A consignee who emails the forwarder on day six has not given the carrier notice, so passing it on, in writing, inside the window is your job.
- Your best moment to preserve recovery is before you pay. A settlement signed without the right release and assignment can end the recovery.
- You can generally recover only what you paid, and no more than the carrier was liable for. Any gap between your liability and the carrier's limit stays with you. See carrier liability limits explained for how those limits work.
Notice and time bars by mode
The table summarises the default regime for each mode, as stated in the instrument itself (Hague-Visby Rules, US COGSA section 3(6), Montreal Convention 1999 Articles 31 and 35, CMR Articles 30 and 32). It is a map, not advice on your case: the contract may add shorter limits, another convention may apply (the Hamburg Rules, in some countries) and national law decides how periods are counted. As of October 2026, check the current text for the countries involved.
| Mode and regime | Written notice to the carrier | Suit deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Sea, Hague-Visby Rules (Art. III r.6) | Before or at removal of the goods into the custody of the person entitled to them; if the damage is not apparent, within 3 days of delivery | 1 year from delivery, or from the date the goods should have been delivered |
| Sea, US COGSA (s.3(6)) | Same pattern: at delivery, or within 3 days if not apparent | 1 year after delivery, or after the date the goods should have been delivered |
| Air, Montreal Convention (Arts. 31, 35) | Damage: forthwith, and at the latest 14 days from receipt of cargo. Delay: at the latest 21 days after the cargo is placed at the consignee's disposal. Must be in writing | 2 years from arrival at destination, or from the date the aircraft ought to have arrived, or from the date carriage stopped |
| Road, CMR (Arts. 30, 32) | Apparent damage: reservations no later than delivery. Not apparent: in writing within 7 days of delivery, Sundays and public holidays excepted. Delay: written reservation within 21 days of the goods being placed at the consignee's disposal | 1 year from delivery for damage and delay (3 years for wilful misconduct, or default treated as equivalent by the court's law). Total loss runs from the 30th day after the agreed time limit, or the 60th day after taking over if none was agreed |
Three points the table hides.
- The notice rule bites differently in each regime. Under Hague-Visby and COGSA, late notice does not by itself end the claim: it means delivery is treated as prima facie evidence that the goods came out as described on the bill of lading, so you must prove otherwise. Under the Montreal Convention, no complaint in time means no action against the carrier, except in the case of fraud on the carrier's part. Under CMR, taking delivery without timely reservations is prima facie evidence of good condition, and delay compensation needs a written reservation.
- The suit deadline is the one that kills recoveries. Notice is a step you can usually still argue about. A missed filing date is final. For air, the Convention says the right to damages is extinguished after two years, and courts in several countries have treated that as a hard cut-off rather than an ordinary limitation period.
- Your payment date is not the start date. If you recover as the customer's assignee or an insurer recovers by subrogation, you generally stand in the customer's shoes and inherit the customer's clock, which runs from delivery. Hague-Visby adds a limited back-stop for indemnity claims (Art. III r.6 bis): an indemnity action can be brought after the year if the court's own law allows, and that time must be at least three months from settlement or service of process. CMR has a similar idea between carriers (Art. 39(4)). Whether a forwarder that paid voluntarily can use either is a question for local counsel. Treat them as back-stops, never a plan.
Your own trading conditions, and your suppliers', may carry shorter contractual notice or suit periods than the conventions. Read them at the start of every claim.
The paperwork a recovery needs
Carriers pay claims that arrive complete. Assemble this pack before the formal claim goes out:
- The transport document: the bill of lading, air waybill or CMR note, including any clauses or remarks. See bill of lading types explained and the air waybill explained for which copy you need.
- Clean or claused receipts at origin. A clean receipt (no remarks about the goods or packing) is your best evidence that the carrier took the goods in good order. A claused receipt ("carton crushed", "pallet damaged", "unable to inspect contents") shifts the burden and often ends the claim before it starts. Compare the origin receipt with the delivery document line by line.
- Proof of delivery with exceptions noted. A POD signed "clean" is the carrier's strongest defence, so check what was written at the time.
- A survey report from an independent surveyor where damage is significant or contested; marine and cargo surveys explained covers when to call one. Invite the carrier to attend, or to waive attendance in writing.
- Value evidence: the commercial invoice, packing list and, for repairs, the repair estimate and invoice.
- Photographs and any temperature or shock-indicator data, taken at discovery, with the container or trailer number visible. Keep the originals.
- Proof of payment to your customer and the signed settlement and assignment (below).
Preserving the right of recourse before you settle
Most recoveries are damaged at the moment of settlement with the customer, not in the carrier's response. Use this checklist before any money moves.
- Do not give up the carrier's liability. Do not let the customer or consignee settle directly with the carrier, and do not sign a clean receipt or "no claim" notice while a loss is being investigated.
- Get a written settlement and release from the customer that states the amount paid, that payment is full and final as between you and the customer, and that the customer assigns (or that you are subrogated to) its rights against anyone liable for the loss. Where an insurer has paid, it will usually take a signed subrogation receipt or similar document as the condition of payment.
- Understand the effect. Subrogation means the person who paid takes over the paid party's rights against the third party. It follows the indemnity principle: you can recover no more than you paid, and no more than the customer itself could have claimed against the carrier. Whether a formal assignment is needed differs between countries, so ask local counsel on a large claim.
- Tell your own insurer before you settle. Liability policies commonly require notice and consent to settlements, and an unauthorised payment can prejudice cover. Our post on forwarder insurance: E&O, cargo legal liability and cyber cover explains how that cover is structured.
- Put the carrier on notice anyway. Send written notice to the carrier, and to the subcontractor who had the goods if different, as soon as the loss is known. Say that the amount will follow and all rights are reserved.
Extending time with the carrier in writing
If the carrier is engaging but the investigation will run past the deadline, ask for an extension of time in writing before the bar runs, not after. Lawyers call this a tolling or time-extension agreement. Sea law expressly allows it: Hague-Visby Art. III r.6 permits the parties to agree to extend the one-year period after the cause of action has arisen. CMR Art. 32 suspends the period while a written claim is pending, until the carrier rejects it in writing and returns the documents, and leaves other extensions to the law of the court seised.
Practical rules (conventions, not legal guarantees):
- Get the extension signed by someone with authority at the carrier, naming the shipment, the claim and the new date. A verbal "we'll hold off" is worth nothing in court.
- Do not treat negotiation as stopping the clock. Under most regimes it does not, and for air the two-year period may not be extendable at all, so diarise a filing date and be ready to issue protective proceedings.
- Check the extension is valid where you may have to sue, because courts differ on whether private agreements can lengthen a statutory period.
What carriers and subcontractors usually dispute
Expect these arguments, and prepare the answers before you send the claim. They are typical, not predictions.
- Packing and stowage. The carrier says inadequate packing, a shipper-packed container or the shipper's own loading caused the damage. Packing photos and survey evidence matter, and a claused receipt strengthens the carrier's hand.
- Inherent vice or the nature of the goods. Rust, mould, ripening or leakage said to come from the cargo itself. Temperature and ventilation records are the answer.
- Late notice. The claim was not in writing, or not inside the window.
- Limits and declared value. The carrier points to a per-package or per-kilogram limit, or to the fact that no higher value was declared. Check what was declared on the bill of lading or air waybill before you quantify.
- Who held the goods. The carrier says the damage happened at a terminal, depot or on a subcontractor's leg. Many contracts extend the carrier's defences and limits to its subcontractors through "Himalaya" clauses, so identify each party in the chain and write to each of them.
When to sue, and where
Most recoveries settle, often for less than the claim. Prepare proceedings when the carrier has rejected the claim in writing, when it has stopped answering and a deadline is near, or when the claim justifies the legal cost. Always issue before the bar, not after it.
Where you sue is set by the convention and the contract. CMR Art. 31 lets the plaintiff choose a court agreed by the parties or the courts of the defendant's residence or place of business, or the place of taking over or delivery. Montreal Art. 33 offers the carrier's domicile or principal place of business, the place of business through which the contract was made, or the place of destination. Sea carriage usually depends on the bill of lading, whose jurisdiction or arbitration clause is commonly enforced. Read it for the court, the governing law and any shorter contractual time limit before filing: a forum clause nobody noticed can mean starting again in another country with the deadline gone.
A claims log that holds up in a dispute
A simple spreadsheet is enough if it starts with the first email. For each claim, record:
- Shipment and transport document numbers, and every party in the chain.
- Delivery date, discovery date, and when and how written notice went to the carrier and who acknowledged it.
- Each applicable deadline and the diarised date to issue proceedings, with reminders at 90 and 30 days.
- Documents received and still missing, with request dates.
- Amount paid, the signed release and assignment, amounts claimed, any extension granted (who signed, new date) and your insurer's reference.
What to do next
- Pull the last 12 months of paid claims and check, for each, whether a recovery was started and whether any deadline has already passed. Close out what you can and book the rest into the log.
- Add a notice-to-carrier step to your claims procedure so that the same day a consignee reports damage, the carrier and any subcontractor receive written notice with rights reserved.
- Put the settlement and release wording, with the assignment of rights against third parties, into your template, and require sign-off before payment.
- Review your standard terms and your suppliers' terms for shorter notice or suit periods and for limits that leave you out of pocket. Where you need cover for the gap, talk to your broker.
If you need a replacement carrier, trucker or air agent for the next shipment, more than 29,300 logistics companies are searchable by country and service in the CargoLinked directory, and the public requests board lists freight that shippers have posted for forwarders to quote on directly.
This is general information, not legal, insurance or financial advice. Time limits and the rules on subrogation and assignment differ by country, contract and the instrument that governs the carriage, and they change. Confirm the position with a qualified lawyer, your insurer or broker, or the issuing authority before relying on any deadline.
