Short answer. Yes, in the usual case. Article 1523 says that where the seller knows or ought to know it is usual to insure goods being sent, he must give you such notice as may enable you to insure them during transit. If he fails, the goods are deemed at his risk during that transit.
What the law says
where goods are sent by the seller to the buyer under circumstances in which the seller knows or ought to know that it is usual to insure, the seller must give such notice to the buyer as may enable him to insure them during their transit, and, if the seller fails to do so, the goods shall be deemed to be at his risk during such transit
Civil Code, Article 1523 — Delivery to the Carrier Is Delivery to the Buyer. Read the full provision →
What the law says
delivery of the goods to a carrier, whether named by the buyer or not, for the purpose of transmission to the buyer is deemed to be a delivery of the goods to the buyer
Civil Code, Article 1523 — Delivery to the Carrier Is Delivery to the Buyer. Read the full provision →
What the law says
the seller must make such contract with the carrier on behalf of the buyer as may be reasonable, having regard to the nature of the goods and the other circumstances of the case
Civil Code, Article 1523 — Delivery to the Carrier Is Delivery to the Buyer. Read the full provision →
Yes — the seller must let you insure
Article 1523 answers this directly for the ordinary shipment. It provides that where goods are sent by the seller to the buyer under circumstances in which the seller knows or ought to know that it is usual to insure, the seller must give such notice to the buyer as may enable him to insure them during their transit, and, if the seller fails to do so, the goods shall be deemed to be at his risk during such transit. The duty comes with real teeth: give no notice, and the seller — not you — bears the loss if the goods perish in transit. The notice must be enough to actually let you insure, not a vague afterthought.
Why the notice matters: risk passes on shipment
The warning is important because of where the risk sits. The same article states that delivery of the goods to a carrier, whether named by the buyer or not, for the purpose of transmission to the buyer is deemed to be a delivery of the goods to the buyer. Once the seller hands the goods to the carrier, the law generally treats them as delivered to you — meaning the danger of loss in transit is normally yours. That is precisely why the insure-notice rule exists: since you carry the risk on the road, you must be told in time to protect yourself with insurance, or the risk shifts back to the seller.
The seller's duty to arrange carriage reasonably
Article 1523 imposes a companion duty about the carriage itself. Unless you authorise otherwise, the seller must make such contract with the carrier on behalf of the buyer as may be reasonable, having regard to the nature of the goods and the other circumstances of the case. He cannot simply dump fragile or valuable goods with any carrier on any terms. If he fails in this and the goods are lost or damaged in transit, you may decline to treat delivery to the carrier as delivery to yourself, or hold the seller responsible in damages. The law expects a seller shipping on your behalf to act sensibly.
The limits of the rule
These protections are defaults, not absolutes. They apply unless otherwise agreed, so the parties can allocate risk and insurance differently by their contract. The insure-notice duty is also tied to what is usual: it bites where insuring the shipment is the ordinary practice the seller knows or ought to know about, not for every trivial delivery. And separate rules apply where the seller has reserved ownership on shipment. Within its field, though, silence by the seller is costly — it can throw the whole transit risk back onto him.