Contract Law. Goods In Transit Insuarnce Claim

[akajonnyg]

Hi All. I have a situation where we have an insurance claim in progress for some goods in transit (GIT). The GIT were damaged while being delivered on behalf of a customer. The claim is substantial (over £20K), there is no problem with the claim and we are fully insured, have claimed before and never had a problem. The problem that I have is that the customer is a big customer who owes us a substantial amount of money (£30K plus) and they have 'hinted' that they will witheld all payment until the insurance claim is settled to thier satisfaction. As I am sure you are aware insurance companies can drag thier feet a little when it comes to settling claims, but as yet I have no reason to think that this may be the case and even it was would it make a difference? If they do withold payment it will cause us a cash flow nightmare. Can they do this or are the 2 things TOTALLY seperate? What is the contract law on this? Thanks in advance for you answers

[buildersmate]

It is presumably your companies role to get the goods to the customer in good condition. Have the goods been supplied a second time to satisfy the order, or is this a custom product where the insurance will refund the cost of repairing the original damaged item?

At the end of the day, the customer doesn't have the product as ordered yet, through no fault of his own. However there is no reason to link payment for previous goods already made to this current insurance issue.

Sounds to me that he is putting pressure on you to resolve the insurance issue.

Now go back to my second sentence and answer that question.

[Maydup]

Good customer service as well as contract law, tells us that you need to cash flow this, not the recipient of the goods.

Go to the bank if necessary and borrow money against the claim in order to get those goods replaced immediately - remember to include a goodwill gesture of some kind as an apology for the delay. Keep you customer happy and you will retain their business and have your bills paid.

Add the bank charges and inconvenience plus second delivery costs to your insurance claim.