How to check a Warta carrier liability policy

On the first page find the title “UBEZPIECZENIE OC OPERATORA TRANSPORTOWEGO (PRZEWOŹNIKA DROGOWEGO I SPEDYTORA)” (transport-operator liability insurance for a road carrier and a freight forwarder). This is one Warta product. It can cover carrier liability, freight-forwarder liability, or both.

In “OKRES UBEZPIECZENIA” (period of cover) and “PRZEDMIOT I ZAKRES UBEZPIECZENIA” (subject and scope of insurance) check which rows are filled: “OC przewoźnika drogowego w ruchu krajowym” (road carrier liability in domestic traffic), “w ruchu międzynarodowym” (in international traffic), “w ruchu kabotażowym” (in cabotage). A missing row means that scope is not bought. OCS (freight-forwarder liability) alone is not enough if the company is to haul the load as the carrier.

Find “Ubezpieczający” (policyholder) and “Ubezpieczony” (insured). On the full policy they sit in separate rows. On the “WNIOSEK-POLISA” (application-policy) they often share one block labelled “UBEZPIECZAJĄCY, UBEZPIECZONY”. For the haul, the insured is the party whose liability must be covered. Compare the full legal name, legal form, tax ID (NIP) and address with the booking and the current company record.

Write down “POLISA NR” (policy number) from the header. Then read “OKRES UBEZPIECZENIA” (period of cover). Warta prints a separate “od” / “do” (from / to) row for domestic, international and cabotage traffic. Do not copy one date onto all three scopes.

The dates must cover loading, transit and the planned unloading. A domestic-only policy does not cover an international haul.

On a later page find “ZAKRES TERYTORIALNY” (territorial scope), “SUMA UBEZPIECZENIA” (sum insured) and “FRANSZYZA REDUKCYJNA W KAŻDEJ SZKODZIE” (deductible in every claim). Each scope has its own row. Do not copy the domestic sum onto international traffic.

Cabotage is split: “kraje inne niż Niemcy” (countries other than Germany) is “na każde zdarzenie” (per event). “Niemcy” (Germany) has one figure “na jedno” (for one event) and another “na wszystkie zdarzenia” (for all events). The deductible for cars and temperature-controlled cargo is separate, but only “jeśli objęte ubezpieczeniem” (if covered).

Read the table “OC PRZEWOŹNIKA – CO OBEJMUJE ZAKRES UBEZPIECZENIA” (carrier liability: what the scope includes). A mark in a column means cover. “Nie dotyczy” (does not apply) means that extension was not bought. Check the columns “Przewozy krajowe” (domestic hauls), “Przewozy międzynarodowe” (international hauls) and “Przewozy kabotażowe” (cabotage hauls) separately.

Then open “ŁADUNKI OBJĘTE UBEZPIECZENIEM” (cargo covered by the insurance). The column “Czy objęte ubezpieczeniem” (whether covered) is TAK (yes) or NIE (no). A high main sum does not cover a NIE cargo. A star marks cargo with stricter parking rules. Below the grid is “Ładunki wyłączone z ubezpieczenia” (cargo excluded from the insurance), including ADR class VII.

The standard Warta form does not list plates. Look for vehicle limits in “DOPUSZCZALNE MIEJSCA PARKOWANIA (POSTOJU)” (permitted parking / stopping places) and in the sensitive-cargo rules. For ordinary cargo the list includes a guarded site, an MOP (motorway service area) on a motorway, a hotel truck park, a 24-hour petrol station, a border and a ferry terminal.

For starred cargo the rule is tighter. A stop of up to 60 minutes: a petrol station or an MOP if the driver stays on site. A longer stop in Poland and outside the printed country list: a guarded place, or a petrol station if the driver stays in the vehicle. On the printed country list, including Germany and France, the ordinary-cargo places apply. Food under ATP needs a current ATP certificate.

Warta does not publish a public search for carrier liability policies by number. Open the form “Potwierdzenie polisy OC Przewoźnika” (confirmation of a carrier liability policy) on warta.pl yourself. Do not use a phone number that appears only in the carrier’s email.

The full policy usually has several pages. A “CERTYFIKAT UBEZPIECZENIOWY” (insurance certificate) confirms that a contract exists, but it omits the cargo grid, the extensions and the parking rules. Missing those pages changes the assessment of the scope.

In “SUMA UBEZPIECZENIA” (sum insured) read “OC przewoźnika drogowego w ruchu kabotażowym – kraje inne niż Niemcy” (cabotage in countries other than Germany) separately from “– Niemcy” (Germany). The first row is “na każde zdarzenie” (per event). The German row splits a figure “na jedno” (for one event) and a figure “na wszystkie zdarzenia” (for all events).

Do not treat the German limit as the limit for cabotage in France or the Netherlands. Check the country of the haul and both rows.

In the scope table find the row “Opóźnienie” (delay). Domestic traffic is “podwójna kwota przewoźnego” (twice the freight). International traffic is “kwota przewoźnego” (the freight). German cabotage is “potrójna kwota przewoźnego” (three times the freight). Other cabotage countries have a separate, low limit “na jedno i wszystkie zdarzenia” (for one and all events).

Rows such as “Klauzula Paramount” (Paramount clause), “Klauzula braku poboru zaliczenia” (cash-on-delivery waiver), “Nierozsądny wybór osób trzecich” (unreasonable choice of third parties), “Deklaracja wartości” (declaration of value) and “Kwota specjalnego interesu” (special interest amount) can be in scope in one column and “Nie dotyczy” (does not apply) in another. A printed row does not prove cover.

Under the main table there is a second schedule, “ROZSZERZENIE ZAKRESU UBEZPIECZENIA” (extension of the scope of insurance). Those limits are “na jedno i wszystkie zdarzenia w okresie ubezpieczenia” (for one and all events in the period). They cover “Rażące niedbalstwo” (gross negligence), “Użycie alkoholu/ narkotyków” (use of alcohol or drugs), “Wydanie osobie nieuprawnionej” (delivery to an unauthorised person) and terrorist acts. The footnote says “limit dodatkowy do limitu określonego w OWU” (an extra limit on top of the limit in the general conditions). A PDF from the start of the period does not show how much of that limit remains.

In “ŁADUNKI OBJĘTE UBEZPIECZENIEM” (cargo covered) read every row: tobacco, alcohol other than beer, electronics, new and used cars, temperature-controlled food, medicines, ADR other than class VII, oversized loads, live animals and “Inne ładunki, nie wymienione powyżej” (other cargo not listed above). NIE on your cargo ends that scope.

A star on a row means “ładunki o podwyższonych wymogach bezpieczeństwa przy parkowaniu (postoju)” (cargo with higher parking-security requirements). The ordinary MOP list is then not enough.

For cargo without a star the place list is wide: a guarded site, an MOP, a hotel, a petrol station, a border, a ferry terminal. For sensitive cargo Warta splits stops of up to 60 minutes from longer stops. A longer stop outside the printed country list needs a guarded place. On that list, including Germany and France, the ordinary-cargo places apply again. Compare the cargo, the stop time and the country.