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Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017

Other commercial matters - Carriage of goods - Limits on carrier liability for contracts of carriage at limited carrier’s risk or declared value risk

259: Carrier’s liability limited to $2,000 for each unit of goods or to declared value

You could also call this:

“Carriers usually pay up to $2,000 if they lose or break your stuff during transport”

This law talks about how much money carriers have to pay if they lose or damage your things when they’re transporting them. It applies when you have a contract for ‘limited carrier’s risk’ or ‘declared value risk’.

Usually, the carrier only has to pay up to $2,000 for each item they lose or damage. If you have a ‘declared value risk’ contract, they might pay more if that’s what you agreed to in the contract.

This $2,000 limit applies to different situations, like when the main carrier is responsible to you, or when other carriers who help with the transport are responsible to the main carrier.

There are some times when this $2,000 limit doesn’t apply. For example, if the carrier damages your things on purpose, they might have to pay more. Also, if your contract says the carrier has to pay for other kinds of damages, not just for lost or damaged items, the $2,000 limit doesn’t apply to those other damages.

When we talk about ‘each item’, we mean each thing that the carrier agreed to transport. It doesn’t matter if those things are later packed together or separated during the journey.

If your contract is for ‘owner’s risk’ or has ‘declared terms’, different rules apply.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6844565.

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Part 5 Other commercial matters
Carriage of goods: Limits on carrier liability for contracts of carriage at limited carrier’s risk or declared value risk

259Carrier’s liability limited to $2,000 for each unit of goods or to declared value

  1. This section applies to contracts for carriage at limited carrier’s risk and to contracts for carriage at declared value risk, but not to contracts for carriage at owner’s risk or contracts for carriage on declared terms.

  2. For the purposes of this subpart, the following are limited in amount in each case to the sum of $2,000 for each unit of goods lost or damaged or, in the case of a contract at declared value risk, the amount specified in the contract:

  3. the liability of the contracting carrier to the contracting party:
    1. the separate liability of any actual carrier to the contracting carrier:
      1. the joint liability of any actual carriers (where there is more than 1) to the contracting carrier:
        1. the joint and several liability of every successive carrier under a contract of successive carriage to which section 270 applies.

          1. The limitation of amount specified in subsection (2) does not apply to—

          2. any liability for the loss of or damage to any goods that is intentionally caused by the carrier; or
            1. any liability arising out of the terms of the contract for damages other than for the loss of or damage to the goods; or
              1. any liability arising out of the terms of the contract for damages that is consequential on the loss of or damage to the goods.

                1. The reference to each unit of goods in subsection (2) is to each unit of goods as accepted for carriage by the actual carrier or (if the carriage is undertaken by more than 1 carrier) the first actual carrier (whether or not the unit that is accepted is subsequently packed, repacked, or unpacked, or otherwise aggregated with or segregated from any other goods, at any stage of the carriage).

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