Port charges get paid the same day. Your cargo never waits on a dispute.
Delay charges are not a risk — they are a certainty on the lanes you run. Guard holds a funded pool against your account. When a covered charge lands, we pay it immediately so the box moves, then we go after the carrier and put the recovered money back into your pool.
What Guard covers
Port storage (demurrage)
We pay the terminal so your box moves, then prove the delay was theirs and claim the money back.
Container hire (detention)
Container-hire penalties caused by gate closures, chassis shortages or carrier equipment failures.
Reefer power & monitoring billing
Terminal power and monitoring lines checked against the tariff and the actual plugged hours.
General Average deposit release
When a vessel declares General Average, we post the cash deposit or bond the same day so your cargo is released, then recover against the adjustment.
Customs administrative holds
Coming nextStorage while a filing error is corrected. Capped per event, switched on case by case.
Consequential delay stipend
Coming nextA fixed daily payment for pure delay. Priced only once a pool has loss history.
General Average declared? Your cargo is released the same day.
After a fire, grounding or salvage, the shipowner declares General Average and every cargo owner on board is asked to post a cash deposit or bond — commonly 15% of declared cargo value — before a single container is released. Most importers have no way to find that cash in a day, so the cargo sits for weeks while storage runs.
Guard posts the deposit for you out of your funded pool, against a flat release fee. Your cargo moves. We then work the adjustment with the average adjuster and your underwriter, and whatever comes back goes straight into your pool. This is a liquidity service, not an insurance policy — the pool stays your money.
GA deposit cover sits on the Guard 50 tier below. For how a cargo policy handles GA — and why it never touches demurrage — see marine cargo insurance explained.
How the pool works
01
You fund a retainer
A refundable operational retainer opens your pool. It stays yours.
02
A covered charge lands
You flag it in the portal. We pay it out of the pool the same day.
03
We claim it back
We build the evidence file and pursue the carrier or terminal.
04
The pool refills
Recovered money returns to the pool, less our success fee. No recovery, no fee.
Retainer tiers
Guard 10
$10,000
Up to roughly 250 containers a month. $5,000 covered per incident.
- Up to $5,000 covered per incident
- Pool ceiling $10,000
- Retainer is refundable on exit, less any open draws
Guard 25
$25,000
High-volume lanes and reefer programmes. $12,500 covered per incident.
- Up to $12,500 covered per incident
- Pool ceiling $25,000
- Retainer is refundable on exit, less any open draws
Guard 50
$50,000
General Average cover. A salvage or fire declaration can hold your cargo for a deposit worth 10–20% of its value — this tier releases it the same day.
- Up to $50,000 covered per incident
- Pool ceiling $50,000
- Retainer is refundable on exit, less any open draws
Guard is an operational service, not an insurance product. We do not underwrite risk or sell a policy — we pre-fund and pursue charges on your behalf under a commercial agreement, and the retainer stays your money.