What Does Carrier Liability Cover on a Damaged Outdoor Sauna?

Key Takeaways

• Carrier liability usually doesn't cover a damaged outdoor sauna in full. It's counted by weight, not value.

• The CMR ceiling is 8.33 SDR per kilogram of gross weight, about €10.01 at the IMF rate of 6 October 2026.

• For partial damage the ceiling follows the weight of the part affected (Article 25).

• A declared value or special interest in delivery raises the ceiling only if it's in the consignment note.

• A sea leg under the Hague-Visby Rules is capped lower per kilogram: 2 SDR, or 666.67 SDR per unit if higher.

• Cargo insurance is a separate contract. Ask who bought it, on which clauses and who is insured.

We assemble and check every sauna at our facility in Klaipėda before it ships, so what leaves on the truck is a finished product, not a kit. The carrier's liability for it is counted in kilograms. The sauna's value isn't. Here's the size of that gap, and the three ways to close it before loading day.

What Does Carrier Liability Cover on a Damaged Outdoor Sauna?

Carrier liability covers a damaged outdoor sauna up to a weight-based ceiling. On an international road delivery the CMR Convention caps compensation at 8.33 SDR per kilogram of gross weight, about €10 at the IMF rate of 6 October 2026. The carrier pays only where it's liable, and the standard rule leaves out your lost installation day. Full value needs a declared value in the consignment note or cargo insurance, arranged before loading.

How is the CMR limit calculated?

The CMR Convention governs road carriage between two different countries, at least one of them a contracting country (Article 1(1)). It starts from the value of the goods at the place and time they were accepted for carriage (Article 23(1)). Then it caps that value.

Article 23(3), as amended by the 1978 Protocol, says compensation shall not exceed 8.33 units of account per kilogram of gross weight short. The unit is the IMF's Special Drawing Right.

The IMF's table for October 2026 valued one SDR at €1.202040 on 6 October. Take an example gross weight of 1,000 kg, a round figure, not a product weight.

• 8.33 SDR × 1.202040 = €10.01 per kilogram

• 1,000 kg × 8.33 = 8,330 SDR

• 8,330 SDR × 1.202040 = €10,013

That's the most the carrier owes for a total loss of those 1,000 kg, plus carriage charges and customs duties (Article 23(4)).

Now divide your own invoice value by the gross weight. Above about €10 a kilogram, the ceiling sits below what you paid.

Partial damage is capped tighter still. Where only part of the consignment is damaged, the ceiling is what would be payable for loss of the part affected (Article 25(2)(b)). For a damaged part of 50 kg, again an example, that's 416.5 SDR, about €501.

On a finished cabin the costly damage can sit in a light part. Whether one broken panel devalues the whole unit is a question for the claims handler or a transport lawyer.

What does the carrier not pay for at all?

Article 23(4) ends with six words: no further damages shall be payable. Your crane booking, your installers' day and your customer's discount are further damages.

Article 17(4) also lists special risks that relieve the carrier of liability. Two matter for a sauna: defective packing, and handling, loading, stowage or unloading by the sender, the consignee or people acting for them.

So if your crane contractor damages the cabin while lifting it off the trailer, the exemption is in play, and the presumption runs against you (Article 18(2)).

Ask for dated photos of the unit and its packing at loading. For the packing itself, see How Do You Protect Sauna Glass During Delivery?.

When does the limit not apply?

In one case. Article 29 removes the limit when the damage was caused by the carrier's wilful misconduct, or by default that the court's own law treats as equivalent. A court decides that after the event.

That's a lawyer's route. Don't plan a delivery on it.

What do a declared value and a special interest in delivery change?

They're the Convention's own two ways to raise the ceiling (Article 23(6)). Cargo insurance is the third way to close the gap.

Under Article 24 the sender may, against a surcharge to be agreed, declare in the consignment note a value above the limit. That value then replaces the limit.

Under Article 26 the sender can enter an amount as a special interest in delivery. Additional loss or damage proved can then be claimed up to that amount. That's the route for a lost installation day.

Both entries go in the consignment note, so your request has to reach whoever books the truck before loading. And the carrier still has to be liable under Article 17.

How is cargo insurance different from carrier liability?

Carrier liability is what the carrier owes when the Convention makes it answer for the damage. Cargo insurance is a separate contract on the goods themselves.

The wording Incoterms points to is the Institute Cargo Clauses of 1 January 2009. Clauses (A) cover all risks of loss or damage, apart from listed exclusions. Clauses (C) cover named events such as fire, overturning or collision. Rough handling isn't on that list.

Even Clauses (A) exclude damage from insufficient packing done by the insured or before cover attached (clause 4.3).

Insurance doesn't replace the note at the tailgate. Clause 16.2 obliges the insured to preserve all rights against carriers. The deadlines are in How Long Do You Have to Claim Damage on Your Sauna Delivery?.

Who buys the policy is a contract question. The International Chamber of Commerce's summary of Incoterms 2020 describes insurance levels for two of its 11 rules: Clauses (C) by default under CIF, Clauses (A) under CIP. Under any other rule, ask.

What changes when the route includes a sea leg?

If the loaded truck goes on a ferry and the goods aren't unloaded, CMR applies to the whole journey (Article 2(1)). The exception is damage proved to come from an event that could only happen at sea.

If the sauna is shipped under a bill of lading, that leg is sea carriage. Where the Hague-Visby Rules apply, the ceiling is 666.67 SDR per package or unit or 2 SDR per kilogram, whichever is higher. That's Article IV(5)(a), as scheduled to the UK Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971.

At the 6 October rate the example 1,000 kg comes to 2,000 SDR, about €2,404. That's less than a quarter of the road ceiling.

The same Rules leave out cargo that the contract states is carried on deck, and is so carried (Article I(c)). Notice of damage that isn't apparent has three days, not seven (Article III(6)).

Not every sea contract runs on these Rules. Ask the forwarder in writing which regime and limit apply to your route.

What should you ask before you book the transport?

Send these five questions to whoever arranges the truck, and get the answers in writing.

• “Which Incoterms rule is in our contract, and where does the risk pass to me?”

• “Is the shipment covered by cargo insurance? On which clauses, for what sum, and who is the insured?”

• “Does that cover include the crane lift at destination?”

• “If there's no cargo insurance, will the carrier accept a declared value under CMR Article 24, and at what surcharge?”

• “Does the route include a ferry or a bill of lading, and will the sauna travel on deck?”

STOP: “the carrier is insured” isn't an answer. Insured for what: the carrier's own liability, or the value of your goods?

This explains the rules. It isn't legal or insurance advice for your claim.

You don't need to rewrite your transport terms this week. Take the consignment note from your last delivery. Multiply its gross weight by 8.33 and by the day's SDR rate. Put the result next to the invoice.

The difference was somebody's risk. Find out whose.

Frequently asked questions

How much is 8.33 SDR per kilogram in euros?

About €10.01 on 6 October 2026, when the IMF valued one SDR at €1.202040. The figure moves daily. The 1978 Protocol to the CMR Convention converts at the date of judgment or a date the parties agree, not on delivery day.

Does the carrier pay for my crane hire and lost installation day?

Not under the standard rule. CMR Article 23(4) refunds carriage charges and customs duties, then states that no further damages are payable. Extra losses need a special interest in delivery, entered in the consignment note under Article 26 against a surcharge.

Is the carrier liable if the sauna is damaged while my crane unloads it?

The Convention puts that risk on your side first. CMR Article 17(4)(c) relieves the carrier when damage arises from handling, loading, stowage or unloading by the sender, the consignee or people acting for them. You can still prove another cause (Article 18(2)).

Does all-risks cargo insurance pay for every kind of transport damage?

No. Institute Cargo Clauses (A) cover all risks of loss or damage except the listed exclusions. Clause 4.3 excludes damage caused by insufficient packing done by the insured or before cover attached, and clause 4.5 excludes loss caused by delay.

Which liability limit applies when a sauna crosses the sea?

On a ferry, CMR normally governs a loaded vehicle's whole journey (Article 2). Under a bill of lading, sea rules apply. Where those are Hague-Visby, the ceiling is 666.67 SDR per unit or 2 SDR per kilogram, whichever is higher.