The Club’s global claims team is organised into regional departments which are dedicated to specific jurisdictions or vessel types. This ensures the claims team has specialist knowledge of jurisdictions which enables us to better advise Members of the strategy to adopt when facing claims in that particular jurisdiction, as well as helping to identify any claims trends of which our Members need to be aware.

The Club is pleased to inform Members of changes to the Marine Legal Costs Cover Policy for 2019. The changes will take effect for all policies incepting as from 20 February 2019.

Since it was founded in 1855, the Club has witnessed the seemingly infinite evolution of the shipping industry from sail to steam and beyond. Today, we are observing possibly one of the most dramatic shifts in recent times, as vessels transition towards autonomy.

Our Members will be aware of the significant Court of Appeal judgment in “The Renos” last year. The claim dealt with the question of whether SCOPIC costs could count towards a CTL calculation in a Hull and Machinery claim. Because of the way in which SCOPIC operates, it is more likely to apply in the salvage of smaller vessels, so the ruling was of particular interest to our type of membership.

The choice of insurers for P&I risks has significantly changed in recent years. 25 years ago, aside from limited liability cover that was available on the back of the H&M policy, there were very few choices outside the International Group of P&I Clubs (IG) system. Alternative facilities were established but the volatility associated with liability claims made it difficult to deliver consistent results. That same challenge remains true today and can only be overcome by a significant spread of risk.