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Can the claims procedure be used for compensation for the repair costs of the wagon? Are wagon demurrage charges during the repair period also included?

For the international carriage of goods between two COTIF Member States, a contract of carriage is concluded in accordance with Art. 1 § 1 CIM. Based on this, in accordance with Article 42 § 1 CIM, a claim in accordance with Art. 43 CIM may be made against the carrier(s) involved in accordance with Art. 45 § 1 CIM in the event of partial loss or damage to the goods which is discovered, or suspected, or alleged by the person with the right to bring action, as well as in the event of exceeding the transit period in accordance with Art. 33 CIM. The legal basis for this is the contract of carriage concluded for the time between acceptance of the goods and delivery of the goods (Article 23 § 1 CIM) and the Agreement concerning the Relationships between Carriers in respect of International Freight Traffic by Rail (AIM) in accordance with the waiver in Article 52 CIM for the settlement of compensation between the CIT member carriers involved.

A different legal situation exists for the use of wagons in accordance with the Contract of Use pursuant to Art. 1 CUV and the General Contract of Use for Wagons (GCU). Point 22.1 GCU and Appendix 5 in accordance with article 4 § 5 CUV apply to damage to the wagon by the user RU in the event of loss of or damage to the wagon and its accessories. On the other hand, the loss of use of the wagon during the repair period is governed by point 13.3 and Appendix 6 GCU, in which context compensation for loss of use in the event of exceeding the transit period for empty and loaded wagons is limited to a lump sum (Appendix 6, point 2 GCU).

The second scenario applies in effect only to the Contract of Use and to indirect damage (demurrage) due to loss of use of the wagon during the repair period vis-à-vis the user RU - point 13.3 and Appendix 6 GCU. It should also be legally specified that this does not, however, affect the customer's wagon hire costs arising from his hire contract under respective national law. Accordingly, it is also not legally possible to make a claim under the contract of carriage for loss of use of the wagons during the repair period.