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New Zealand law explained for everyone

Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017

Other commercial matters - Carriage of goods - Liability of actual carrier to contracting carrier

262: Liability where 1 actual carrier is involved

You could also call this:

“Who is responsible when goods are lost or damaged during shipping by one carrier”

When only one actual carrier is involved in transporting goods, they are responsible to the contracting carrier if the goods are lost or damaged while under their care. This responsibility applies even if the actual carrier didn’t cause all of the damage or loss. However, the exact terms of this responsibility depend on the agreement between the actual carrier and the contracting carrier.

You should know that the ‘actual carrier’ is the person who physically moves the goods, while the ‘contracting carrier’ is the person who made the agreement to transport the goods. This rule helps to make sure that if something goes wrong with your goods during transport, there’s a clear way to figure out who is responsible.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6844570.

Topics:
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261: Application of provisions on liability of actual carrier to contracting carrier, or

"Rules for when a carrier uses other carriers to move your goods"

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263: Liability where more than 1 actual carrier is involved, or

"Sharing responsibility when multiple carriers transport goods"

Part 5 Other commercial matters
Carriage of goods: Liability of actual carrier to contracting carrier

262Liability where 1 actual carrier is involved

  1. If 1 actual carrier is involved, that carrier is liable to the contracting carrier for the loss of or damage to any goods that occurs while the actual carrier is separately responsible for the goods.

  2. Subsection (1) applies to the actual carrier—

  3. subject to the terms of its contract with the contracting carrier:
    1. whether or not the loss or damage is caused wholly or partly by the actual carrier.

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