Platinum Plus Financial Protection is a fund controlled by our network which covers all of our members (Globalink Network & Global Value Network) against bankruptcy, insolvency, and fraud up to $20,000. 

Where do the funds come from?
Platinum Plus is member funded, and all members participate in our Platinum Plus Financial Protection program via an annual payment of $500 on top of the annual membership fees. Your contribution as a member is capped at $5,000 (10 years of membership), after which you continue to receive the benefit without making further contributions, lowering your annual cost by $500.

Is $20,000 enough coverage?
An important consideration when you are thinking of joining a freight forwarding network is the amount of financial protection that is offered. This can range a great deal in the industry, with networks offering anywhere from $0-$100,000, receivables protection vs. bankruptcy/insolvency protection, and different processes for accessing the funds altogether.

A common thought pattern independent freight forwarders and logistic providers have is that the higher protection offered by a network, the better. While we understand the desire to protect your company, we actually think that a higher protection does not mean safer network. Here at the GLOBALINK and GLOBAL VALUE networks, we believe in keeping our freight forwarder network limited to a smaller, more closely connected group of higher quality agents. We believe that the best protection that we offer to for your company comes from prequalifying our applicants before joining, and our ongoing quality control of network members to ensure that you can rely always rely on the members of our group to handle your shipment professionally.  

While it is good to have a last resort like a Financial Protection Fund should things go wrong, there will be nothing you can do to build back the trust with your client if your shipment is mishandled by a bad partner agent. When freight forwarder networks promote their high financial protection as one of the key benefits of their forwarding network, what does this say about the faith they place in their members to provide good service?

In the vast majority of cases, we are usually able to intervene, and help resolve any disputes from the middle as a neutral party before resorting to a payout from the fund. In most cases, it is a simple issue of miscommunication. We pride ourselves on the quality of our customer service, and always urge our members to reach out to us at the first sign of anything unusual, so that we can offer our support, and come to a more favorable resolution for both parties. This is far better than just covering your losses and a damaged relationship with your client.

In our 20+ years of operating, we have never had to increase the amount of the Platinum Plus Financial Protection, because this amount has always been adequate coverage. This serves as a testimony to the quality of our membership.

To read the full terms of this program, please email willsiemens@glnk.com for more information!   

Want to read more interesting posts about freight forwarding? We recently wrote about HOW TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS IN A FORWARDER NETWORK and HOW TO NETWORK WITH OTHER FREIGHT FORWARDERS.