Freight · Netherlands, International
DSV claim deadlines, liability and evidence
DSV contracts in the Netherlands under the FENEX Nederlandse Expeditievoorwaarden as a forwarder rather than a carrier. Those conditions impose mandatory arbitration and a much lower liability exposure than carrier liability under CMR or AVC.
Tightest deadline
7 days hidden damage, 21 days delay
Standard cap
4 SDR per kg, max 10,000 SDR; carriage regime where carrying
Liability regime
FENEX
The most important thing to understand about DSV, and about forwarders generally, is the distinction between a forwarder and a carrier. A forwarder arranges transport; it does not itself perform it, and its liability under the FENEX conditions is correspondingly narrow. Shippers who assume they have CMR carrier liability against DSV are usually wrong, and find out at claim time.
Claim windows
DSV accepts transport and customs assignments in the Netherlands as forwarding services under the FENEX Nederlandse Expeditievoorwaarden, which is a materially different liability position from acting as a carrier. DSV states that its own Standard Terms and Conditions prevail where they conflict with FENEX or with any carriage convention, except where that convention is mandatory law.
Underlying carrier protest deadlines (CMR)
7 days hidden damage, 21 days delay
Counted from delivery.
Where an actual carrier performed the movement, the CMR art. 30 deadlines still control the claim against that carrier and must be protected regardless of the DSV relationship.
Disputed invoice amounts
4 weeks
Counted from the invoice date.
Amounts not disputed in writing within four weeks of the invoice date can be pursued by the forwarder in the ordinary Dutch courts. This is the billing-side deadline, and it is easy to miss.
Claim filing deadline against DSV
Verify against the FENEX conditions and your DSV agreement
FENEX sets no short notification window of the kind AVC or CMR impose, so there is no published headline figure here. What it does set are the limitation periods below, and any shorter duty comes from the individual assignment.
Claim time-barred under FENEX
9 months
Counted from delivery, or the day the goods should have been delivered.
A claim lapses entirely after 18 months. Both periods run from the day after delivery, or after the day delivery was due, for damage, devaluation and loss.
Insured versus uninsured
No additional cover
Forwarder liability under the FENEX Nederlandse Expeditievoorwaarden: 4 SDR per kilogram of damaged, devalued or lost gross weight, within an overall limit of 10,000 SDR per event, and never more than the invoice value of the goods. Where DSV performs the carriage itself the carriage regime governs that leg instead: CMR with AVC 2002 for international road, AVC for domestic road, the Hague-Visby Rules by sea, the Montreal Convention by air, and articles 8:40 to 8:52 of the Dutch Civil Code for combined transport.
With cover bought
Cargo insurance arranged separately is the normal route to value-based cover, because forwarder liability is not designed to indemnify the value of the goods.
Delay and late delivery
Governed by the FENEX conditions and, for a carried leg, the carriage-regime delay cap.
Evidence required
- The forwarding assignment and confirmation
- Consignment note for the underlying movement, with any reservation recorded
- Commercial invoice and packing list
- Photographs and, where the value warrants it, a survey report
Exclusions
- Consequential loss
- Losses falling outside the narrow forwarder liability the FENEX conditions impose
Filing the claim
- Who files
- The principal under the forwarding assignment.
- How to file
- Through the DSV branch handling the assignment, in writing.
- Processing time
- Not published as a fixed service level.
What quietly kills DSV claims
Forwarder is not carrier. The FENEX conditions limit DSV's exposure well below CMR carrier liability, so the recoverable amount is often far smaller than shippers expect.
FENEX imposes arbitration by three arbitrators to the exclusion of the ordinary courts. The cost of that process is frequently larger than the claim, which is itself a negotiating reality.
The four-week invoice dispute window is a separate, easily missed deadline on the billing side, and it runs from the invoice date rather than from when anyone noticed the error.
Protect the underlying carrier claim in parallel. The CMR deadlines against the performing carrier run regardless of what is happening in the forwarder relationship.
The 4 SDR per kilogram rate is a ceiling and not an entitlement: FENEX caps compensation at the invoice value as well, so a light high-value consignment is limited by weight and a heavy cheap one by the invoice.
DSV's own Standard Terms and Conditions prevail over FENEX where the two conflict, so reading FENEX alone does not tell you the whole position.
Behind everything sits the FENEX limitation regime: a claim time-bars at 9 months and lapses altogether at 18, counted from delivery or from the day delivery was due.
FAQ
Is DSV liable as a carrier or as a forwarder?
In the Netherlands DSV accepts transport and customs assignments as forwarding services under the FENEX Nederlandse Expeditievoorwaarden, so as a forwarder. Forwarder liability is materially narrower than carrier liability under CMR or AVC, and that difference usually only surfaces at claim time.
What conditions does DSV use in the Netherlands?
The Nederlandse Expeditievoorwaarden, the general conditions of FENEX deposited with the District Courts of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. They provide for arbitration by three arbitrators to the exclusion of the ordinary courts.
How much does forwarder liability actually pay?
Under the FENEX conditions, 4 SDR per kilogram of damaged, devalued or lost gross weight, capped at 10,000 SDR per event and at the invoice value of the goods. SDR is the IMF Special Drawing Right, so the euro equivalent moves daily. Where DSV carried the goods itself, that leg follows its own carriage regime instead.
How long do I have to dispute a DSV invoice?
Amounts not disputed in writing within four weeks of the invoice date can be pursued by the forwarder before the competent Dutch court at its place of establishment. That window runs from the invoice date, not from discovery of the error.
Sources
- DSV Netherlands, algemene voorwaarden (sets out which regime applies to what)
- Nederlandse Expeditievoorwaarden (FENEX) 1 mei 2018, as published by DSV
- DSV Standard Terms and Conditions (prevail over FENEX on conflict)
Verified 1 September 2026. This page summarises publicly published conditions for reference. A negotiated carrier contract, a rate-card annex or a service-specific annex can override any of it. Always check the deadline in your own agreement before relying on a figure here. Spotted a figure that has changed? Tell us and we will correct it.
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