Marine mutuals like the UK P&I Club are committed to reducing the number and size of insurance claims they receive. After all, in the P&I world, members own their respective clubs and through pool arrangements within individual clubs, they in effect pay their own claims. The lower the level of claims, the higher the probability that the cost of insuring through the club will reduce
After much study and only after in-depth trials with certain shipowners, the UK P&I Club is now launching an innovative risk management scheme utilizing a ‘BowTie’ approach to identifying areas of risk and minimizing the occurrence of incidents.
The initial public announcement was made in London in front of members of the UK trade press and was presented publicly for the first time in Asia during the Shipping Hong Kong Week
(27 February – 2 March 2012). At the Business of Shipping conference on 1 March, the UK Club’s Loss Prevention Director, Karl Lumbers, explained the concept in detail and was available afterwards to answer any questions the audience asks.
He explains: “Working with those members who wish to identify the various threats to the smooth (claim-free) running of their vessels, we conduct reviews on those areas which may cause claims. Thomas Miller P&I Ltd, the manager of the UK Club, has access to an incomparable amount of claims data resulting from extensive analysis of previous incidents over a period of 23 years and it is this that has enabled the Club to identify ‘threats’, ‘consequences’ and ‘controls’, the foundations of developing BowTie reports on individual vessels.”