CargoCover Advisory — Marine Insurance Guide

What Is Sales Turnover Policy or STOP Policy?

For a small exporter shipping a handful of containers a month, declaring each shipment under a Marine Open Policy is manageable. But for a large manufacturer moving raw material between factories, dispatching to domestic dealers, sending goods to job-workers, and exporting from multiple locations at the same time — declaring every single movement becomes a full-time administrative job on its own. The STOP Policy exists to solve exactly this problem. This guide explains what a STOP Policy is, how it's priced, who it's built for, and how CargoCover Advisory structures one correctly.

1. What Is a STOP Policy?

A STOP Policy (Sales Turnover Policy) is a marine cargo insurance policy that replaces per-shipment declarations with a single premium calculated on your company's projected annual sales turnover. Instead of declaring the value of every export shipment, import consignment, domestic dispatch, or inter-factory transfer individually, the insured simply reports periodic turnover figures, and cover applies automatically across all qualifying movements of goods during the policy period.

2. Who Needs a STOP Policy?

STOP Policy is built for large and mid-sized manufacturers and exporters with high transaction volume across multiple locations — companies where filing a declaration for every single movement of raw material, finished goods, or export shipment becomes operationally impractical. It is widely used by manufacturers across:

• Steel and metal manufacturers with multiple plants and depots
• Textile and fabric manufacturers with job-work processing across locations
• Engineering goods manufacturers with frequent inter-factory transfers
• Pharmaceutical companies distributing to both export and domestic markets
• Chemical manufacturers with high shipment frequency

In short: if your business generates a high volume of transactions across export, domestic, and inter-unit movement, a STOP Policy is usually simpler and more cost-efficient to administer than a per-shipment policy.

3. How Is Premium Calculated Under a STOP Policy?

Premium is calculated as a rate applied to your company's projected annual sales turnover — covering the combined value of exports, imports, domestic sales, and inter-unit transfers expected during the policy year. You then submit periodic (typically monthly) actual turnover figures to the insurer, and the premium is adjusted at renewal based on actual turnover versus the projected figure. This removes the need to declare and insure each shipment individually.

4. What Does a STOP Policy Cover?

• Purchase of raw materials and inter-factory movement to processing units
• Movement of finished goods from factory to depots, warehouses, or C&F agent premises
• Domestic sales dispatch to distributors and dealers
• Exports on FOB and CIF basis, and imports including customs duty exposure
• Intermediate/temporary storage cover at job-workers' or C&F premises
• Institute Cargo Clause A — All Risks, with War Clause and SRCC (Strikes, Riots & Civil Commotion) built in

5. STOP Policy vs Marine Open Policy vs Specific Voyage Policy

All three are marine cargo insurance products — the difference is how they're priced and who they suit:

• STOP Policy — premium based on annual sales turnover; no per-shipment declarations; best for high-volume, multi-location manufacturers
• Marine Open Policy — premium based on declared value per shipment under an annual umbrella cover; best for regular exporters who want automatic coverage with periodical declarations
• Specific Voyage Policy — covers a single, one-off shipment; best for occasional exporters or a specific high-value voyage

6. Ports & Cities Where STOP Policies Are Commonly Used

Since a STOP Policy covers a company's entire turnover rather than a single route, it typically spans shipments across multiple ports and cities in one policy, including:

Ports & ICDs: Mundra, JNPT (Nhava Sheva), Kandla, Chennai, Kolkata, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, and inland container depots such as ICD Tughlakabad, ICD Ludhiana, and ICD Sanand.

Manufacturing hubs: Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara (Gujarat); Delhi NCR and Ludhiana (engineering and textiles); Chennai and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu); Bengaluru (Karnataka); Kolkata (West Bengal); and Morbi (Gujarat ceramics).

7. Frequently Asked Questions

What is a STOP Policy?

A STOP Policy, or Sales Turnover Policy, is a marine insurance policy where premium is calculated on a company's projected annual sales turnover instead of shipment-by-shipment declared value, automatically covering exports, imports, domestic sales, and inter-factory movement under one policy.

Who should buy a STOP Policy?

Large and mid-sized manufacturers and exporters with high transaction volume across multiple locations, where declaring every single movement of goods individually becomes operationally impractical.

How is premium calculated under a STOP Policy?

Premium is calculated as a rate applied to projected annual sales turnover, adjusted periodically based on actual turnover figures submitted to the insurer, rather than being calculated per shipment.

What is the difference between a STOP Policy and a Marine Open Policy?

A Marine Open Policy calculates premium per shipment based on declared cargo value, requiring periodical declarations. A STOP Policy calculates premium on annual sales turnover instead, removing the need for per-shipment declarations.

Does a STOP Policy cover domestic sales as well as exports?

Yes. A STOP Policy typically covers exports, imports, domestic sales dispatch, inter-factory transfers, and job-work movement, all under a single turnover-based policy.

8. Why CargoCover Advisory for Your STOP Policy

CargoCover Advisory is an authorized ICICI Lombard marine insurance agency that structures Marine STOP Policies for Indian exporters and manufacturers with multi-location operations. We:

• Calculate the right turnover basis for your policy, so you're neither over- nor under-declaring
• Ensure Institute Cargo Clause A, War Clause, and SRCC are built in as standard — not sold separately
• Structure intermediate storage cover correctly for your job-workers and C&F network
• Provide dedicated claims support across every port and location your goods move through
• Review your turnover projections annually, so growth in volume never becomes a gap in cover

9. Explore Our Services

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