ABSTRACT
Meaning of ‘all risks’ The Institute Cargo Clauses (A) provides, but with exceptions, coverage for ‘all risks’ of loss of or damage to the subject-matter insured.218 The meaning of the term ‘all risks’ was examined in a number of cases,219 the most notable of which are Schloss Brothers v Stevens,220 and The Gaunt Case.221 Before proceeding to discuss these authorities, it is relevant to note that the statutory and contractual exclusions have to be borne in mind when considering the scope of an ‘all risks’ or a similarly worded policy. Whether the wording of such a policy is clear and precise enough to override the statutory exceptions listed in s 55(2)(b) and (c),222 – in which the Act itself allows exceptions to be made to the general rule – is a matter which has to be raised. To put the question in a more direct way: is an insurer of an ‘all risks’ cargo policy liable for ‘ordinary wear and tear’;223 ‘ordinary leakage and breakage’;224 ‘inherent vice or nature of the subject-matter insured’;225 and for any loss proximately caused by delay,226 or by rats or vermin?227
