Timebarred by Email

Everyday demurrage claims are time barred because parties fail to forward demurrage claims properly or with complete documentation. Quite often by the time the mistake is discovered the demurrage claim has become time barred under the terms of the relevant charterparty. This can result in a loss of significant sums of money.

With the advent of email, parties have begun to think of this communication medium as reliable and free and it is now common to file and negotiate claims over email. This move to save courier fees does have costs however in that it should not be deemed to be a reliable communication medium for time sensitive communications. Case law has proven that there needs to be some evidence of the receipt of the claim by the counterparty.

To this end, Navarik has created a claims portal whereby parties can submit all of the supporting documentation for a claim, generate the necessary notifications, view the status of their claim and negotiate a claim to conclusion within the portal, providing a complete audit log of all activity. Navarik Claims serves as a central repository for all claim activity, enabling companies to have a high degree of confidence when estimating possible exposure.

Particular emphasis is placed on meeting time bars (time after which legal claims will not be entered) by providing increased visibility throughout the claims process. On a functional level this means that the system is well suited to cope with staff holidays or unusually short periods for presentation of the demurrage claim by creating a transparent and collaborative workspace for all parties.

Navarik is conducting a proof-of-concept pilot in the first quarter of 2009, providing participants with a low cost, low risk opportunity to view some of the benefits of Navarik Claims firsthand.

If you would like to participate in the pilot, please call or email us to learn more.