This provision was amended in the 2003 version. The Commentary was amended in the 2013 Plan. Further amendments were made in the 2019 Version.
Sub-clause 1, first sentence, contains the main rules regarding the insurer’s liability under the loss-of-hire insurance, which require “damage to the ship” that “is recoverable under the terms of the Plan”. As a main rule, therefore, the loss-of-hire insurance does not cover loss of time arising from causes other than damage to the ship. Thus the casualty that is recoverable under the loss-of-hire insurance is basically the underlying hull damage. Furthermore, the damage must be recoverable under the conditions of the Plan as they applied at the time the loss-of-hire cover came into effect. This applies regardless of whether the ship’s hull insurance has been effected on different conditions or whether the ship has no hull insurance at all. If hull insurance has been effected on conditions other than those of the Plan, such as ITCH, and the loss-of-hire insurer has given his written acceptance that the loss-of-hire cover is to be based on the said conditions, special rules nevertheless apply, cf. the second sentence and below. The reference to the Plan applies to the standard conditions, and not to the individual insurance contract. Consequently, the damage must entitle the assured to compensation in accordance with Chapter 10 et seq. In this connection, the rules regarding full cover pursuant to Cl. 10-4 will be decisive. Consequently, it is of no significance whether the ship is insured on conditions that are more or less favourable than the full conditions of the Plan. If the hull insurance has been effected on stranding terms pursuant to Cl. 10-8, the loss-of-hire insurer is therefore liable, provided that the damage would have been recoverable pursuant to Cl. 10-4. On the other hand, if the hull insurer has assumed extended liability for error in design and therefore must pay compensation for hull damage that would not have been recoverable under Cl. 12-4 of the Plan, the loss-of-hire insurer is not liable for the loss of time entailed by the casualty. Nor, in relation to the liability of the loss-of-hire insurer, does it make any difference if the damage is not covered by the hull insurance because it is less than the deductible, cf. the first sentence in fine to the effect that the deductible shall be disregarded when determining whether the damage is recoverable under the hull conditions. The same principle applies in situations where e.g. a repairer has accepted liability (wholly or partially) for damage caused to the ship provided the damage would have been recoverable under the terms of the Plan. This constitutes “damage” and the loss of hire insurer will still be liable if the damage results in the ship being deprived of income regardless of whether a claim has also been made under the hull insurance.
The term “damage” denotes the contrast to a total loss; in the event of the total loss of the ship, the question of cover under the loss-of-hire insurance does not arise, cf. below under Cl. 16-2. On the other hand, there is no requirement that the damage must be recoverable as particular average in accordance with the rules of Chapter 12. Damage to the ship which is recoverable under the hull insurance by virtue of the general average rules, cf. Cl. 4-8, also triggers the loss-of-hire insurance. On the other hand, if the general average situation causes a delay without there being any damage, this does not fall within the scope of sub-clause 1. In such cases, however, a special cover provision has been introduced in sub-clause 2 (d).
The reference to the Plan aims at the objective criteria for cover in Chapter 10 et seq. If the damage, objectively speaking, is recoverable under the Special Conditions but the assured loses his hull coverage on account of a breach of the rules of Chapter 3, he does not necessarily also lose his loss-of-hire cover. Breaches of the rules of Chapter 3 must be considered in direct relation to loss-of-hire cover. This means, on the one hand, that breaches of the rules regarding safety regulations, for instance, will be breaches which normally also are relevant in relation to the loss-of-hire cover, and which the loss-of-hire insurer therefore must be able to invoke. On the other hand, the loss-of-hire insurer will not be able to argue that the assured has failed to comply with his duty of disclosure to the hull insurer as long as he himself has been given full and correct information relating to his own cover. Nor can the loss-of-hire insurer invoke breaches of special safety regulations included in the individual hull insurance contract, cf. what has been said above concerning cover of error in design.
In practice, the loss-of-hire insurer will often follow the decisions made in respect of the hull insurance with regard to whether damage is recoverable, the apportionment fraction in the event of concurrent causes of damage, etc. However, the loss-of-hire insurance is an entirely independent insurance, and the decisions made by the hull insurer are not binding on the loss-of-hire insurer.
The damage to the ship which gives rise to the loss of time may have various causes. In such cases, the general rules of Cl. 2-8 and Cl. 2-9 regarding the perils insured against apply. Pursuant to Cl. 2-10, the insurance only covers marine perils, unless otherwise agreed; under Cl. 2-8, however, marine perils encompass “all perils to which the interest may be exposed”, with the exception of the perils that are mentioned in sub-clauses (a) to (c) of the provision, including “war perils”. Loss-of-hire insurance against war perils will be included in the war risk cover in Chapter 15, which incorporates the present Chapter. If no war risk insurance has been effected in accordance with Chapter 15 of the Plan, loss-of-hire insurance against war perils in accordance with Cl. 2-9 must, if relevant, be agreed separately. Such cover will be directly related to Chapter 16, and will therefore be somewhat less comprehensive than the loss-of-hire cover provided by Chapter 15, cf. Cl. 15-16 to Cl. 15-18, which contain a number of additions to the loss-of-hire cover pursuant to Chapter 16.
The question of causation and concurrent causes of damage is basically also regulated by the general part of the Plan, cf. Cl. 2-13. If the loss has been caused by a combination of perils that are covered by the insurance and perils that are not covered, it must be apportioned proportionately between the perils insured against and the excluded perils according to the influence each of them must be assumed to have had on the occurrence and extent of the loss. The problems relating to cause were discussed thoroughly during the 2003 revision process. The Committee agreed that while no change was to be made in the causal principles that are currently applied in loss-of-hire insurance, it was appropriate to address causal issues from a broader perspective in the Commentary.
Concurrent causes in relation to loss-of-hire insurance may occur in a variety of situations, which may arise alone or in combination:
Firstly, the hull damage that causes the loss of time may be a consequence of a concurrence of perils that are covered under the hull insurance and perils that are not covered, such as a concurrence between navigational errors and breaches of safety regulations.
Secondly, several instances of hull damage may be repaired simultaneously. If one or more of these instances of damage is either not covered by the insurance or is covered under another insurance period, the loss of time will be a consequence of damage that is covered and damage that is not covered.
Thirdly, there may be a situation where causes that are not covered or causes that must be attributed to another insurance period may result in the prolongation of a loss of time or stay in a repair yard that is due to the occurrence of hull damage. Such causes may be external factors in the form, for instance, of a strike, extreme weather conditions or the detention of the ship due to its arrest and the like, or factors related to the ship itself, such as the discovery during repairs of unknown damage to the ship that is not covered by this insurance.
In the first situation, where the hull damage that causes the loss of time is a consequence partly of perils that are covered and partly of perils that are not, an apportionment will be made in relation to the hull settlement on the basis of Cl. 2-13 of the Plan. In this case it will be natural to use the same percentage apportionment for the loss-of-hire settlement, unless the loss-of-hire insurer has special reasons for applying another ratio of apportionment, cf. above as regards the fact that the loss-of-hire insurer normally follows the decisions of the hull insurer. If, therefore, the assured himself must pay 30 per cent of the hull damage on account, for instance, of breaches of safety regulations, it is likely that he will also have to pay 30 per cent of the time lost in repairing the damage. If the damage is due to a concurrence of marine and war perils, the special rules of Cl. 2-14 to Cl. 2-16 apply. That portion of the loss of time that must be attributed to a war peril is not covered by a loss-of-hire insurance against marine perils, and must be covered by taking out either loss-of-hire cover under an insurance pursuant to Chapter 15 of the Plan, or an independent loss-of-hire insurance against war perils, compare above.
The second situation, in which several instances of hull damage are repaired simultaneously, is dealt with separately in Cl. 16-12. Here the general, discretionary rule of apportionment in Cl. 2-13 has been replaced by fixed criteria for apportionment. These rules may be applied cumulatively with the rules of Cl. 2-13 to Cl. 2-16; for further information see below under the Commentary on Cl. 16-12, sub-clause 1.
As to the third situation, we must fall back on the general rule of apportionment in Cl. 2-13. In this case, contrary to the first situation, there will be no apportionment settlement for the underlying hull damage, and Cl. 2-13 must thus be applied directly to the loss-of-hire settlement. Consequently, the loss of time shall be apportioned over the individual perils according to the influence each of them must be assumed to have had on the occurrence and extent of the loss. Guidance has to be sought in the Commentary to Cl. 2-13 where criteria for weighing the different causes in different situations are given. One of the criteria will be how foreseeable the event prolonging the loss of time is when the ship is sent to the repair yard. In relation to Loss of Hire insurance, this criterion of foreseeability must be seen in connection with the rules regarding evaluation of tenders in Cl. 16-9, the assured’s duty to reduce the loss and general preventive considerations.
Such considerations will be particularly relevant in connection with perils that prolong the loss of time and that are so foreseeable that the assured must be expected to take account of them when considering the choice of repair yard. The tenders on which the assured’s evaluation is based pursuant to Cl. 16-9 will normally be based on the time it will take to carry out the actual repairs, and will not include an expected delay due, for instance, to an announced strike or the likelihood of poor weather or the like. In principle, therefore, foreseeable prolongations will not be included in the basis on which the assured makes his choice. On the other hand, the assured has a general duty to reduce the loss. Therefore, the assured cannot merely consider tenders when choosing a repair yard; he must also take account of expected delays in order to determine which yard will carry out the repairs most quickly, in real terms. This means, among other things, that the assured must inform the insurer if he is aware of factors that may prolong the ship’s stay in a repair yard, so that the insurer can take this into account when discussing which of the tenders obtained entails the least loss of time in real terms. In the event of a grossly negligent breach of this duty, the insurer may apply Cl. 3-30 and Cl. 3-31 of the Plan. In less serious situations, however, preventive considerations may be used as an argument in favour of apportionment.
On the other hand, it is conceivable that a tender based on the estimated repair time at repair yard A, added to a foreseeable delay due to an announced strike or expected climatic problems, is more reasonable than alternative tenders from other repair yards. If the parties in such a situation jointly agree to choose repair yard A, the prolongation must be covered in its entirety. Reference is otherwise made to the Commentary on Cl. 2-13.
In practice, it is particularly the prolongation of stays in a repair yard due to strikes that has caused problems. The 1996 Commentary states that while, in principle, the apportionment rule in Cl. 2-13 was to be applied, in practice a prolongation of the stay in a repair yard due to a strike among the yard workers had been covered. However, the practice referred to consisted only of accepting local strikes at the yard as “foreseeable”, and in such cases paying “full” compensation, i.e. without proportionate apportionment. In the Committee’s view, prolongation due to a strike must be considered in the customary manner on the basis of Cl. 2-13, and not on the basis of whether or not the strike is local.
The problems raised by the “reference-back rule” in Cl. 2-11, sub-clause 3, are discussed in the Commentary on Cl. 16-14.
The loss covered by loss-of-hire insurance is referred to as “loss of time”. This does not mean that the time lost is covered; loss-of-hire insurance is an insurance against loss of income (loss of freight), hence “loss-of-hire” or “loss of earning” insurance in English. The characteristic aspect of loss-of-hire insurance is that income is usually lost as a direct consequence of loss of time, i.e. as a result of the fact that the vessel is temporarily unable to operate. However, in certain circumstances the assured may be able to maintain the earnings even if the insured vessel as such is out of operation. For example, certain charterparties allow for hire to be paid for a number of “maintenance days” even if the vessel e.g. is out of operation for repairs (see e.g. Cl. 13 (c) of “Supplytime 2017”). Another example could be a situation where the assured employs a substitute vessel during repairs of a damaged vessel in order to maintain earnings under the charterparty of the damaged vessel. In these situations there is no claim for the agreed daily amount for the period during which the assured maintains the earnings, even if the insured vessel as such is unable to operate. On the other hand, if the assured incurs extraordinary expenses by employing a substitute vessel in order to maintain earnings, such extraordinary expenses may be allowable under Cl. 16-11.
The loss of time is specified as “loss due to the ship being wholly or partially deprived of income as a consequence of damage”. The loss of time will normally coincide with the time during which the ship is physically unable to operate. The time during which the ship is in a yard undergoing repairs, added to the time spent on surveys, obtaining tenders and rerouting the ship to the yard, will normally be lost in terms of income. If the ship cannot resume operation immediately after repairs have been completed, however, a loss of time may also occur after completion of repairs. These problems are solved by the provision in Cl. 16-13.
It is not required that there be a total loss of income; loss of time due to the ship being “partially” out of operation is also covered. This includes both the situation where the ship can partially operate, and the situation where the ship is operating normally but has reduced earnings due to the damage, for instance because the ship can no longer carry several types of cargo. This kind of loss will be recoverable under the loss-of-hire insurance if the insured can prove that the loss is a consequence of the damage, because he would have been able to accept another type of cargo if the damage had not occurred.
Sub-clause 1, second sentence, was added in the 2003 revision, and regulates the situation where loss-of-hire cover pursuant to Chapter 16 is effected for a ship for which hull insurance has not been effected on Plan conditions. This question gave rise to considerable discussion during the 1996 revision of the Plan. The problem was to determine which rules should be used to decide whether hull damage was recoverable, thereby providing grounds for covering the loss of time under the Plan’s loss-of-hire conditions. During the 1996 revision, however, there was disagreement as to how such coordination could best be effected, and it was therefore not considered expedient to resolve this question in the Plan.
Lacking a solution to the problem in the Plan, each insurer has drawn up clauses to be applied when the hull insurance has not been effected on Plan conditions. Since these clauses are practically identical in content, it has now been agreed that the question is to be regulated in the Plan, thereby achieving a uniform solution to this problem.
If the hull insurance has been effected on the basis of conditions other than those of the Plan, and these conditions have been accepted in writing by the insurer, the second sentence establishes that the provisions in these conditions which correspond to Chapters 10, 11 and 12 of the Plan are to be applied to determine whether the damage is recoverable as hull damage, thereby triggering the loss-of-hire insurance. If no hull insurance has been effected, or if hull insurance has been effected on Plan conditions but adapted to individual cases, or if other conditions have been used which have not been accepted, the rules of the Plan are to be followed, cf. above.
If the insurer has accepted in writing hull conditions that are different from the Plan’s hull cover, these other conditions will be decisive for the liability of the loss-of-hire insurer. Consequently, if the exclusions specified by such conditions for damage due to wear and tear or error in design, etc., are more comprehensive than what is provided under Cl. 12-3 and Cl. 12-4 of the Plan, the loss-of-hire cover will be reduced correspondingly. On the other hand, if the conditions offer more extensive cover than the Plan, liability under the loss-of-hire cover pursuant to Chapter 16 will be extended. Extensions or reductions of hull cover in individual cases in relation to standard cover may thus be of significance for loss-of-hire cover, provided that the insurer has accepted this in writing. This will also apply if the hull insurance is based on the Plan.
The coordination of loss-of-hire cover with hull conditions other than those of the Plan is binding provided the insurer has accepted the deviating hull conditions. Thus the assured may not choose to link his loss-of-hire cover to the Plan’s conditions for hull cover once he has obtained acceptance for other hull conditions.
If the hull cover is divided up into several parts effected on different conditions, the loss-of-hire cover must be apportioned correspondingly. If, for instance, one third of the ship’s hull cover has been effected on English ITCH conditions with the consent of the loss-of-hire insurer and two thirds on Plan conditions, one third of the loss of time must be covered in accordance with the ITCH rules that correspond to Chapters 10-12 of the Plan, while the remainder must be covered pursuant to the Plan.
Nevertheless, only the conditions in the insurance in question that correspond to Chapters 10-12 of the Plan are relevant in relation to the loss-of-hire cover. This means, on the one hand, that cover must be based on the conditions in question insofar as they state which objects are covered by hull insurance and the scope of the hull cover in the event of damage to the ship (Chapters 10 and 12). Furthermore, these rules must be followed as regards the delimitation between damage and total loss that does not entitle the assured to loss-of-hire insurance, cf. Chapter 11 and Cl. 16-2. However, no reference to Chapter 13 is necessary because this Chapter concerns the hull insurer’s cover of collision liability.
On the other hand, this means that issues that are regulated by Chapters 1-9 of the Plan and that concern the perils covered, incidence of loss, causation, breaches of the assured’s duties relating to the underlying hull damage, etc. must always be decided on the basis of the rules in the general part of the Plan.
Coordination with other hull conditions is only linked to the assessment of the underlying hull damage; issues related to the loss-of-hire insurance itself, such as the rules regarding the duty of disclosure or special trading areas relating to loss-of-hire cover must always be decided in accordance with the rules of the Plan. If the ship is outside the trading area covered by the foreign hull insurance, but within the trading area covered by the Plan, the loss-of-hire insurer will therefore be liable even if no compensation is payable under the hull insurance.
Hull insurance conditions may conceivably change in the course of the insurance period covered by the loss-of-hire insurance, for instance from Plan conditions to English ITCH conditions. In such case, the hull insurance and the loss-of-hire insurance must be coordinated on the basis of the hull conditions that applied when the loss-of-hire insurance was effected, unless the assured has notified the insurer of a change to other standard conditions and received the latter’s written acceptance of these. This type of solution is necessary because the loss-of-hire insurer calculates the premium in relation to the hull conditions that apply at the time the insurance is effected.
Sub-clause 2 represents an extension of the cover provided by loss-of-hire insurance in that in certain cases loss of time is covered even if there is no damage to the ship. This means that the loss-of-hire insurance’s “casualty concept” has been extended: in addition to the hull damage defined in sub-clause 1, the events mentioned under sub-clause 2 (a) to (d) must also be deemed to be “casualties” for which compensation must be paid. Apart from the addition of a new sub-clause 2 (d), the provision is the same as in the 1996 Plan. The rules are structured on the basis of specific cases. Pursuant to sub-clause 2 (a), the insurance covers time lost because the ship “has stranded”. To say that the ship “has stranded” means that the stranding must be in the nature of a casualty, even though there is no requirement that the stranding resulted in damage. If, on the other hand, the stranding is a consequence of “ordinary use”, for instance foreseeable strandings during navigation on a shallow river, cf. Cl. 10-3, the insurer is not liable for the loss of time. This extension of cover must be assumed to have little significance in practice, since a stranding that does not cause damage to the ship will normally not result in a loss of time that exceeds the deductible period.
Sub-clause 2 (b) corresponds to Cl. 15-12, but is more restrictive in two respects. Firstly, contrary to Cl. 15-12, sub-clause 2 (b) stipulates “physical” obstruction. The difference arises from the fact that Cl. 15-12 also encompasses blocking due to intervention by a State power. On the other hand, such blocking is excluded from the marine perils covered, which is decisive in relation to Cl. 16-1. Secondly, obstruction on account of ice is not included. In all other respects, reference is made to the Commentary on Cl. 15-12 as regards the scope of the provision. Loss of time that is covered pursuant to (b) must be deemed to be an independent casualty that triggers a separate deductible. However, this does not apply when the obstruction is a proximate consequence of an earlier stay in a repair yard. In such a case, the time lost during the ship’s obstruction is covered pursuant to Cl. 16-1, sub-clause 1, and no new deductible is to be calculated.
Sub-clause 2 (c) extends cover to include loss of time resulting from action taken to salvage or remove damaged cargo.
Sub-clause 2 (d) was added in the 2003 version, and extends cover to include delay resulting from a general average situation that does not lead to damage to the ship. An example is where the cargo shifts in bad weather, and the ship seeks a port of refuge to avoid damage. The deviation to and from the port of refuge is a general average act. The time lost in seeking a port of refuge and staying there for a while in order to discharge and reload/restow will be covered by the loss-of-hire insurer under sub-clause 2 (d) even though there is no damage to the ship. This corresponds for instance with the solution under English loss-of-hire conditions. In connection with the recent pirate attacks, there has been discussion of how far the cover extends when the shipowner takes steps to avert an attack or limit its consequences. The wording “event that is recoverable in general average” must be construed as a general average act, or an expense or sacrifice that is recoverable in general average. An attack by pirates is therefore no general average act. On the other hand, expenses and sacrifices undertaken by the shipowner in order to avert or limit the attack could be such an “event”, depending on the circumstances. However, what is covered by sub-clause 2 (d) is the loss of income “as a consequence of” such an expense or sacrifice. If the loss of income had already occurred when the expense or sacrifice was undertaken, the loss of income is not a consequence of the general average event. This means that loss of income resulting from a deviation or another measure taken to escape from pirates trying to board the ship may, depending on the circumstances, be recoverable because the loss of income is a consequence of the sacrifice. However, this is less practical because this type of time loss will seldom exceed the deductible. If, on the other hand, the ship has already been seized by pirates, the loss of income will already be a fact. In such case it is not the expense nor the sacrifice – such as ransom negotiations – that is the cause of the loss of income, but the pirate attack. In other words, the ship was deprived of income at the time the general average act was undertaken, and there is no causation between the event and the loss of income. Therefore, the time spent on ransom negotiations or other measures after the ship was seized by pirates is not recoverable under sub-clause 2 (d). This means that sub-clause 2 (d) will only cover a very marginal portion of a potential loss of time resulting from a pirate attack. If the assured needs loss-of-hire insurance for this risk, therefore, he must take out such cover in the market.
Sub-clause 3 was moved from Cl. 16-4, sub-clause 2, without any change of wording. Pursuant to this provision, the daily amount multiplied by the maximum number of days covered per casualty or altogether during the period of insurance must be seen as a sum insured, i.e. a maximum monetary limit on the insurer’s liability (per casualty and altogether during the period of insurance). The insurer is liable to pay a full daily amount for up to the stated number of days or a reduced amount for a correspondingly larger number of days. The stated number of days therefore does not impose a maximum limit on the total number of days for which the insurer may be liable.
Further rules governing the term “insurance period” are set out in Cl. 1-5 of the Plan. The term poses no problems for ordinary insurance policies with a term of one year. If it has been agreed that the insurance is to attach for a period of more than one year, it follows from Cl. 1-5, sub-clause 4, that the insurance period is nevertheless to be deemed to be one year in relation to, inter alia, Cl. 16-1, sub-clause 3. Further details regarding the calculation of the insurance period in these cases are found in the commentary to Cl. 1-5.
The rules regarding the limitation of the insurer’s liability per casualty contain no provisions regarding the delimitation of the term “casualty” in the event of damage caused by heavy weather and the like. Such provisions are included, on the other hand, in Cl. 16-7 regarding the deductible period. Should there be a need for a corresponding delimitation in relation to Cl. 16-1, the rules of Cl. 16-7, sub-clauses 2 and 3, must be applied by analogy. However, the problem is not likely to arise in practice, since a total maximum number of days equal to the maximum number of days per casualty has as a rule been agreed.
Sub-clause 4 was added in the 2019 Version, and automatically re-instates the policy to the original limit in case of a casualty during the policy period. It follows from sub-clause 3 that the insurance contract shall state a maximum liability for any one casualty and further a maximum liability for all casualties occurring during the insurance period. These limits are very often the same, e.g. 90 days cover per casualty and in all during the policy period. In the absence of a reinstatement clause, there will be less protection available for any subsequent casualties if more than one casualty occurs during the policy period. As an example, if the policy provides for 90 days cover per casualty and in all, and a casualty occurs whereby a claim is paid for 50 days in excess of the deductible, then under the provisions of sub-clause 3 there would only be 40 days protection remaining for any further casualties during the policy period. This is now remedied by including an automatic reinstatement clause, whereby the full 90 days limit is “reinstated” automatically after a casualty, against payment of a pre-defined additional premium.
The wording is based on standard automatic reinstatement clauses which customarily have been included in most loss of hire insurance contracts in the recent years. It does not matter if a casualty occurs early or late in the policy period, reinstatement to original limits shall automatically take place in case of a casualty, and the corresponding premium automatically becomes payable. The premium rate is the same as for the original policy, however it is necessary to assess the amount to be reinstated, and the question is how much have been “used” of the sum insured which is to be multiplied with the premium rate in order to decide the amount of reinstatement premium payable. This also means that it is not possible to calculate the reinstatement premium until the adjustment of claim is completed, only then is the amount to be reinstated known to the parties. Interest allowance and certain costs are payable in addition to the sum insured (ref. Cl. 4-19), and therefore no reinstatement premium is payable for such allowances. The expression “irrespective of time” means that the reinstatement premium rate is the same as the premium rate for the original policy period, irrespective of when the casualty occurs during the policy period. However, if the insurance period is longer than one year, it will follow from Cl. 1-5 that the insurance period shall nevertheless be deemed to be one year in relation to Cl. 16-1, sub-clause 4, which means that the reinstatement premium shall be limited to the annual premium for the amount reinstated.
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