Fee schedule
Pay nothing and keep 65% of what we recover. Or pay monthly, have every new invoice screened before you pay it, and keep up to 85%. This is the schedule you will sign, shown before you sign it.
Forwarder or NVOCC? CargoSettle plans
Rates are a percentage of what is actually recovered, invoiced only after the refund or credit lands with you. Refunds go directly to you; we never receive or hold your funds. Nothing found, nothing owed. The monthly fee is billed in advance and is not credited against the contingency fee.
Start a Guard tier.
- Secure Stripe checkout, billed monthly in advance
- Cancel any time, effective at the end of the billing month
- Claims identified under your tier keep that rate
- Disputes still go out under your signed Engagement Agreement and Letter of Authorization
- No carrier, terminal or trucker is contacted before you sign
What every Guard tier includes
The tiers differ by volume and rate, not by what we do. A subscriber above their volume band moves up a tier at the next billing month; there are no overage fees. Guard Scale adds a monthly 30-minute readout on Google Meet. Enterprise is scoped in a video meeting.
Every new invoice screened before AP pays it: ocean, D&D, per diem, chassis, drayage, LTL. Flagged items are short-pay or dispute candidates.
The ongoing 12-month look-back audit of paid invoices, exactly as in the free audit.
Monthly findings report and quarterly recovery statement.
Disputes filed in your name under the Letter of Authorization; escalation to an FMC charge complaint where warranted.
Claims and Dispute Advisory at 5% of recovered instead of 15%.
Your contract and tariff library kept current, so rate-versus-contract checks run on every ocean invoice.
How the rate works
- Which rate applies
- The rate in effect on the date we identify a claim in writing. A claim identified under a tier keeps that rate even if the subscription later ends; claims identified after it ends are at 35%.
- When we invoice
- Only after a refund, credit or waiver is confirmed and the money is with you. Refunds go directly to you; we never receive or hold your funds.
- What Guard is not
- Not a law firm, customs broker or OTI; no legal advice. The subscription does not replace the Engagement Agreement and Letter of Authorization, and no carrier is contacted before they are signed.
- Health Check credit
- If you sign the Engagement Agreement within 30 days of an Invoice Health Check report, the $750 is credited in full against the contingency fee under any plan.
Business information from an audit provider, not legal advice; confirm the specifics with your counsel. Full terms in Terms of Use, section 2B.
Claims and Dispute Advisory
When a claim sits between you and a forwarder, between two forwarders, or between you and a shipping line, the founder advises you as your own adviser: reading the file, framing the claim, the correspondence sequence, when and how to escalate, and what evidence closes the gap. Thirty years in cross-border trade, logistics and freight across the United States, Europe and Asia.
- Guard subscribers
- 5%
- of what you recover
- Everyone else
- 15%
- of what you recover, per case
- Not included
- Legal advice or representation; customs matters; pursuing debts owed to you by third parties; any receipt of funds.
CargoSettle plans
For freight forwarders, NVOCCs and their overseas agents: unpaid freight, cargo released without the original B/L, abandoned cargo and agency account disputes, worked toward settlement before they turn into lawsuits. A monthly consulting fee, a commission only on what is recovered, and expenses at cost when a file needs travel.
A separate subscription service with its own terms. Claims and Dispute Advisory above stays a per-case service.
Starter
- Monthly fee
- $499
- Commission on amounts recovered
- 15%
- Active dispute files at a time
- 1
- Reply time
- 2 business days
- Agent Check on a new overseas agent
- —
- Agency statement review
- —
- Strategy meeting (video)
- —
- Release Control Kit
- —
- Travel, accommodation and other expenses
- At cost, approved first
Growth
- Monthly fee
- $999
- Commission on amounts recovered
- 10%
- Active dispute files at a time
- 3
- Reply time
- 1 business day
- Agent Check on a new overseas agent
- 1 a month
- Agency statement review
- Quarterly
- Strategy meeting (video)
- Quarterly
- Release Control Kit
- Included
- Travel, accommodation and other expenses
- At cost, approved first
Scale
- Monthly fee
- $1,999
- Commission on amounts recovered
- 5%
- Active dispute files at a time
- 8
- Reply time
- 1 business day, priority
- Agent Check on a new overseas agent
- 4 a month
- Agency statement review
- Monthly
- Strategy meeting (video)
- Monthly
- Release Control Kit
- Included
- Travel, accommodation and other expenses
- At cost, approved first
The terms that matter
Full CargoSettle terms- Minimum term 3 months, then month to month; cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid period.
- The commission rate is locked to your plan on the day a file is opened.
- Files opened while you are subscribed stay subject to the commission for 12 months after you cancel.
- Amounts recovered means money paid to you, charges waived or credited, and agreed set-offs, including anything obtained through counsel.
- Expenses are billed at cost, only after you approve an estimate; trips over $1,500 are paid in advance.
- Lawyer, mediator and court fees are paid by you directly.
- Annual prepay by invoice: two months free.
Questions about pricing.
Can I cancel?
Yes, any time, effective at the end of the current billing month. There is no minimum term. Months already billed are not refunded; a month billed after your cancellation request is.
What happens to my claims when I cancel?
A claim identified while your subscription was active keeps that tier's rate, whatever happens to the subscription. Claims identified after it ends are at the standard 35%.
Do I still sign the Engagement Agreement?
Yes. The subscription buys the screening, the reporting and the lower rate. Disputes go out only under a signed Engagement Agreement and Letter of Authorization, and no carrier, terminal or trucker is contacted before you sign.
Does the $750 Health Check credit apply?
Yes. If you bought an Invoice Health Check and sign the Engagement Agreement within 30 days of the report, the $750 is credited against the contingency fee under any plan. The monthly Guard fee itself is not credited.
What is Claims and Dispute Advisory?
The founder, with 30 years in cross-border trade, logistics and freight, advises you as your own adviser on a claim or dispute with a forwarder, between forwarders, or with a shipping line: reading the file, framing the claim, the correspondence sequence, when to escalate. It is business information from an audit provider, not legal advice or representation, and it never includes pursuing debts owed to you by third parties. The fee is 5% of what you recover for Guard subscribers and 15% otherwise, invoiced only after the recovery lands.
Is any of this legal advice?
No. FreightAudit Pilot is a commercial audit service of HDC Brands LLC, not a law firm, customs broker or OTI. Everything here is business information from an audit provider; confirm the specifics with your counsel.