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Get Singapore's best Freight Forwarder Insurance. Broad cover for goods damage, fire, liability, vehicle damage, & more.
Provide is the easiest way to protect your freight forwarder business. Get comprehensive & affordable coverage quickly.
As a freight forwarder, your clients rely on you to deliver their goods within tight deadlines. But when the goods you’re responsible for get lost or damaged, freight forwarders can face significant legal liability. That’s why our freight forwarders insurance protects you, your vehicles, your employees, and the goods you’re responsible for.
What insurance do Freight Forwarders need?
Coverage | Explanation | Importance for freight forwarders |
Protects your goods against damage and loss, while being moved. Covers legal liability if you damage your customers’ goods. | Critical | |
Protects your commercial vehicles from damage. Covers liability to others in accidents | Critical if you operate commercial vehicles | |
Protects your business premises (e.g. office/warehouse) against property damage. Covers fire, explosions, certain types of water damage, & more. | Critical | |
Protects you against liability to third-parties for property damage or injuries. E.g. you injure others, or damage someone’s house while moving goods. | Critical | |
Protects your employees if they suffer work-related injuries/sickness. | Legally required for all manual workers (e.g. goods movers), or workers who earn <$2,600/month | |
Covers medical expenses incurred by foreign workers. | Legally required for S-Pass and Work Permit holders | |
Provides cash benefit if you cannot operate your moving business due to covered reasons, e.g. fire at your office/warehouse. | Very good to have |
What are some claims examples for Freight Forwarders?
Claim Example 1: Client sues moving company for damaging goods
You win a job for a large corporate client who’s moving offices. You are responsible for moving almost 900 boxes worth of office equipment. Some of this equipment is particularly expensive – e.g. computers, TVs, and other electronic equipment. Along the way, some of your staff get careless and accidentally drop these expensive items. They end up damaged. The client discovers these damaged goods after the move is completed. They file a legal claim against you, demanding compensation. Their lawyers allege that your safety measures were inadequate, and your negligence allowed the company’s goods to become damaged.
In such cases, Bailee’s Liability Insurance would be essential in covering you. Bailee’s Liability protects logistics companies that are responsible for goods belonging to someone else. This insurance policy would pay for lawyer’s fees, and the cost of damages.
See: Singapore logistics firms face rising numbers of missing parcels and delays
Claim Example 2: Warehouse and goods destroyed in fire
You store $500,000 worth of goods in a warehouse. A unit in the warehouse catches fire due to a fault in an electrical socket. The entire warehouse burns down, destroying all your goods stored inside it. Since you have Commercial Property Insurance, the insurer pays for the cost to replace your inventory.
See this real-life case: Massive fire ravages Tuas warehouse, causes walls to collapse
Claim Example 3: Employee arm crushed by falling goods 
One of your employees was stacking goods in a warehouse. All of a sudden, some pallets of goods toppled over. The goods landed on the employee’s arm, causing severe crushing injuries. The employee is rushed to the hospital, where surgeons race to save his arm. His complex operation and hospitalisation bill ends up being $40,000. He is also placed on 4 weeks of medical leave. His salary for the period he’s on medical leave is $3,000. Under WICA laws, you must compensate the employee for his $40,000 medical bills. You must also pay them for their $3,000 lost wages while on MC leave. Since you have WICA Insurance, the insurer pays this $43,000 expense on your behalf.
Work-related injuries/illnesses don’t need to be this severe to force you to compensate employees. Logistics employees, particularly manual labourers, spend long hours lifting goods. This can develop into repetitive stress injuries – e.g. back problems, shoulder problems, and other musculoskeletal issues. These can be classified as work injuries. For instance, if an employee goes to the doctor for chronic back pains as a result of heavy lifting at work, you would have to compensate them for their medical bills, and lost wages while on MC also.
See this real-life case: Worker killed by falling goods in Singapore warehouse
How much coverage do I need?
Marine Cargo / Bailees Liability Insurance: You’ll need enough coverage to cover your annual import/export value. For instance, if you ship $1 million worth of goods a year, cover at least that amount.
Commercial Vehicle Insurance: You should get a Comprehensive policy for for all commercial vehicles that you own.
Commercial Property Insurance: Most freight forwarders will have at least $100,000 coverage. If you operate a warehouse, make sure you have enough coverage for the value of the goods you store. Many freight forwarders will carry at least $500,000 cover and above, depending on the volume of goods they store at any one time.
Public Liability Insurance: Consider a minimum of $500,000 coverage.
Work Injury Compensation Insurance: You should insure 100% of your employees. Include both manual and non-manual workers.
Business Interruption Insurance: Calculate your lost gross profit if you can’t operate your business for 3-6 months. Cover at least that amount.
Foreign Worker Medical Insurance: You will need to insure all your S-Pass and Work Permit holders.
How much does Freight Forwarder Insurance cost?
Coverage | Coverage amount (example) | Premium |
$100,000 | From $100/year | |
1 van | From $300/year | |
$100,000 | From $29/month for a Courier Insurance package
| |
$500,000 | ||
Provides cash benefit if you cannot operate your business due to covered reasons, e.g. fire at your office/warehouse. | ||
$10 million common law annual limit
$45,000 medical expenses cover per worker | ||
$15,000 cover per worker | From $6/month, per worker |
Why use Provide for Freight Forwarder Insurance?
- Save up to 25% on your premiums
- Comprehensive coverage from brand-name insurers
- Access to insurance experts with 20+ years combined experience serving SMEs and large multinational firms
- Speak with us by phone 7 days/week