No airline or forwarding agent likes claims. This is because they are the result of irregularities in freight transportation, damaged shipments or even total losses. Often, they are costly and settling them is time consuming, since usually several parties are involved: airlines, ground handlers, road feeder companies or their partners, not to mention insurance firms. Yet, claims can also be a differentiating factor – if they are settled quickly, this can strengthen customer loyalty. Conversely, the opposite is true. Swiss WorldCargo has now launched a new online claims submission procedure aimed at speeding up and enhancing processes.
When asked about the innovation, the freight carrier first and foremost emphasizes that the new digital claims procedure is not intended to replace the existing personal, customer-centric approach, but rather to enhance it by removing friction from the initial stages of the process. Among other things, this is done via a new online form that standardizes the submission of claims, thus ensuring a uniform procedure for customers globally – regardless of station or time zone. Also, the tool increases transparency since the sender receives an instant confirmation after the claim has been filed, “which builds trust and reduces uncertainties,” stresses the carrier’s Claims department in a response to questions raised by CargoForwarder Global.
Claims can have many causes and be very different
The carrier’s Claims team further states: “We allow customers to send a Pre-Claim / Claim without having to previously register an account.” Although the reasons for claims can be very different, theyare handled centrally by Claims experts, the carrier assures.
A further benefit of the new claims tool is internal efficiency improvement since manual e-mail handling is a thing of the past. This allows the dedicated Cargo Claims team to focus more on resolution quality and proactive communication, solving cases quickly and competently. This way, operational costs are minimized and the overall quality of the air cargo product is enhanced.
The human touch remains
Despite offering claimants the digital submission of their cases if a shipment was damaged, got lost or was not flown as booked, Swiss WorldCargo points out that its team continues to manage each claim personally and that its members reach out to local stations when needed, therefore ensuring that the human touch remains central. The new system was launched on Wednesday (18JUN25) combined with the request to access a dedicated online form for Pre-Claims and Formal Claims – both providing a more efficient and user-friendly process, states Swiss WorldCargo.
Guiding customers
These forms “guide our customers in a detailed way through the required fields to ensure our teams receive all the information they need to process their claim efficiently,” is stated in a release.
Asked to illustrate the process by describing a typical claims example or two, Swiss WorldCargo sent CargoForwarder Global this reply: “We understand the importance of transparency, but we safeguard our customer’s privacy. Hence, the related internal processes and customer information are treated as confidential and cannot be shared externally.” In this respect, CargoForwarder Global would like to emphasize that it had requested that Swiss WorldCargo anonymize a given case, i.e. without specifically naming any people or companies involved.
