The Institute Cargo Clauses are the standard English-law wordings for marine cargo insurance, issued by the Joint Cargo Committee of the Lloyd’s Market Association and the International Underwriting Association. The A form is the widest of the three. It is written as cover against loss or damage from any cause, subject to a list of exclusions, rather than as a list of the perils it will pay for. That structure is what matters commercially, because it shifts the burden: an assured under A shows the loss happened during the period of cover, and it is for the underwriter to bring the loss within an exclusion. Under the named-perils forms the burden runs the other way. Which of the three forms a quotation is based on therefore matters more than the premium difference between them.
Why nothing is quoted here. This lexicon quotes only text it has actually read, from the body that issued it. The instrument described above has a real owner, named in the paragraph, but that owner does not publish the operative wording openly, and reproductions circulating on brokers’, carriers’ and consultants’ websites are not the issuing body’s publication and are not treated as the source. So this entry describes the instrument’s role and structure and stops there. For the wording that will actually govern your transaction, go to the issuing body — and read the version your contract incorporates, since these texts are revised.