Interest on CMR compensation: does five per cent apply in every case?

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When goods are lost or damaged in international carriage, the compensation amount is only part of the issue: the interest rate and starting date also matter. Article 27 CMR provides for five per cent annually; however, Turkish case law distinguishes awards in foreign currency from awards in Turkish lira. A written compensation claim sent to the carrier, a damage notification and an enforcement request are also different documents. This article explains how a cargo claimant, or an insurer documenting subrogation, should prepare the interest file.

1. Establish CMR applicability and the nature of the claim first

Article 1 CMR requires a contract for the carriage of goods by road for reward, with the designated places of taking over and delivery in different countries, at least one of which is a contracting country; the article also contains exceptions. A foreign registration plate or foreign-currency invoice alone is insufficient. Examine the carriage contract, route, consignment note and delivery records together. Under Article 4, an absent or irregular consignment note does not, by itself, prevent CMR applicability.

Article 27 concerns interest on compensation payable under the CMR. It is inappropriate to apply the same five-per-cent rule directly to a carrier’s unpaid freight invoice. First establish the conditions for loss, damage or delay compensation, the claimant’s entitlement, the correct carrier and liability defences. An insurer’s payment does not automatically establish every claim either: the policy, payment and basis of subrogation must be documented separately.

2. Do not read the five-per-cent rule independently of currency

Article 27(1) CMR provides for interest at five per cent annually on compensation. In the Eleventh Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation’s decision of 20 April 2026, E.2025/5129, K.2026/2196, compensation was claimed in USD for goods stolen during international carriage. The regional court of appeal substituted a judgment applying five-per-cent annual interest under the CMR instead of the first-instance court’s statutory interest; the Court of Cassation affirmed. The decision shows why the general statutory interest rate should not automatically be selected for a foreign-currency claim.

There is different treatment for Turkish lira. In the same Chamber’s decision of 8 November 2010, E.2009/5293, K.2010/11437, applying five per cent to an insurer’s recourse award in TRY was held incorrect; the judgment was corrected to apply advance interest and affirmed as corrected. Accordingly, one should not state that every CMR case attracts five per cent regardless of currency. Examine the claim currency, collection election, judgment and applicable domestic interest regime together; do not carry the older decision’s result into every current file as an immutable rate.

3. What does a written compensation claim do for the starting date?

Under Article 27(1), interest runs from the date the written claim was sent to the carrier or, if no such claim was made, from the date legal proceedings were instituted. A damage record or notification to the insurer alone should therefore not be relied upon. Preserve both a communication showing that compensation is sought from the carrier and identifying the carriage and claim basis, and its dispatch record. One cannot conclude that every email starts interest without assessing its contents, attachments and whether the addressee is the correct carrier.

In the Eleventh Civil Chamber’s decision of 12 September 2024, E.2023/4081, K.2024/6305, the dispute concerned annulment of an objection to EUR-denominated enforcement. The affirmed decision accepted accrued interest at five per cent annually from the compensation-demand letter dated 11 June 2013 until enforcement, and continuing interest at that rate on principal thereafter. This was a decision on a specific letter and calculation; it does not establish that any damage notification produces the same starting date without examining its contents.

4. Dispatch, receipt and limitation need separate records

The interest starting point under Article 27 is not the same test as suspension of limitation under Article 32(2). Article 27 refers to dispatch of the written claim; Article 32(2) regulates suspension by a written claim, the carrier’s written rejection and return of attached documents. The party relying on receipt of the claim or reply, or return of documents, bears the burden of proving it. Keep receipt, rejection and return records alongside the dispatch date; do not assume that one screenshot establishes every legal effect.

Article 32 ordinarily provides a one-year limitation period, extended to three years for wilful misconduct or fault considered equivalent under the law of the court hearing the case. Time starts on delivery for partial loss, damage and delay; for total loss, thirty days after the agreed time limit expires or, absent an agreed limit, sixty days after taking over; and for other cases, three months after the contract. The starting day is excluded. Calculation is file-specific. Repeated claims on the same subject do not suspend time again. Seeking interest does not preserve limitation indefinitely; separate conditions for delivery reservations and delay notification also remain applicable.

5. How should the interest calculation be prepared before enforcement?

Use a calculation schedule separating principal compensation, currency, selected interest regime, the basis for the starting date, calculation cut-off and payments. For example, where a written foreign-currency compensation claim was sent to the carrier, distinguish accrued interest between dispatch and enforcement from interest thereafter. Do not count the same period twice or add unclaimed or legally unaccrued sums to the interest base. This guide does not calculate an individual amount or determine a definitive receivable.

For a foreign-currency receivable, the invoice currency, compensation unit and collection election in enforcement are not automatically identical. Article 27(2) CMR links conversion of compensation-calculation elements expressed in a currency other than that of the country where payment is claimed to the exchange rate at the day and place of payment; do not treat this as an instruction selecting one enforcement conversion date for every case. Article 58 of the Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law separately requires the requested conversion date and interest to be specified for foreign currency. The TRY equivalent and collection election in the enforcement request require a procedural check distinct from the compensation calculation.

6. Litigation and enforcement in Türkiye require distinct assessments

Article 31 CMR provides international jurisdictional connections; it does not alone determine the competent type of Turkish court or the enforcement office where proceedings should start. For a commercial carriage dispute in Türkiye, examine commercial-court competence under Articles 4–5 of the Turkish Commercial Code, territorial jurisdiction and contractual provisions separately. Check mandatory pre-action mediation under Article 5/A for commercial monetary and compensation claims and actions to annul objections. Mediation is a different procedure from initiating enforcement directly.

In ordinary non-judgment enforcement by attachment, check jurisdiction under Article 50 and the enforcement request under Article 58 separately. The ordinary objection period for this route is seven days from service of the payment order; the one-year period for an action to annul the objection under Article 67 starts on service of the objection on the creditor. That year is not a new guarantee extending CMR limitation. A different enforcement type or supporting instrument may require another route. Do not assume that starting enforcement without a written claim invariably has the same interest effect as instituting legal proceedings under Article 27; examine the particular procedure and claim.

7. Which documents should be assembled?

First match the carriage contract and consignment note, delivery or loss records, invoice and loss calculation. The second group consists of the compensation letter addressed to the carrier, its attachments and evidence of dispatch and receipt. The third comprises the carrier’s reply, document returns, partial payments and payment descriptions. For an insurer’s claim, add payment and subrogation evidence; if litigation or enforcement has begun, include pleadings, the enforcement request, payment order, objection and service records. Identify the legal question each record answers.

An unselected record is not automatically mandatory or missing. For example, the absence of a statement of claim does not itself make preparation defective where no action has yet been filed. Conversely, a claim sent to the wrong carrier, unclear currency or an unproven dispatch date may make the interest claim contentious. The interactive guide distinguishes the next preparation step for these situations; it does not determine compensation entitlement, the interest starting date or litigation outcome.

8. A practical sequence: scope, currency, written claim, time and procedure

Classify the file first by CMR applicability and the distinction between compensation and freight. Then identify the claim and award currency and check the appropriate interest regime. Establish the nature and dispatch of the communication to the carrier and any receipt–rejection–return history. Independently of interest calculation, check CMR limitation and delivery notices. Finally determine court competence, jurisdiction, mediation and the form of the litigation or enforcement request. This sequence reduces the risk of stating the correct rate while using the wrong starting point or procedure.

This is general information based on sources checked on 31 October 2026. The full texts of all three decisions were read; their facts differ and none is presented as promising the same outcome in every file. The current rate for TRY interest, collection election, particular contractual provisions and individual time calculation require separate verification against the file. The full guide retains answer explanations and sources; its PDF preview shows only the selected preparation result as an office report.

Sources

General information; individual documents, facts and procedures need separate review.

CMR compensation interest: currency and written-claim preparation guide

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