Sales and marketing commentary

Oceanology 2012

ITIC exhibited at London’s ExCel Centre at Oceanology 2012, the “world’s premier meeting place for the marine science and ocean technology community”. The exhibition is every two years and has
become larger and more sociable every time. This year the three day event was attended by over 7,700 unique visitors, with a large number of ITIC’s hydrographic assureds in attendance. ITIC’s stand was opposite the bar and to further divert any attention from the fact that we were there to sell insurance we had a racing car simulator and a daily competition to find ‘a hydrographic surveyor in a reasonably priced car’, which proved very popular. ITIC also hosted a drinks reception at the stand, which was well attended by an eclectic group of members, insurance brokers, P&I club underwriters and lawyers.

ITIC Publications

ITIC produces various publications which are sent to members and brokers and all are included in the Rules and Publications section of ITIC’s website, www.itic-insure.com.

The Wire is a sector specific publication, with only the relevant members and insurance brokers receiving this communication. A Naval Architecture Wire was sent out in late 2011 which contained relevant claims stories, an article on what can be expected of a naval architect, advice for those acting as expert witnesses and recommended standard terms and conditions. A Hydrographic and Offshore Wire was published ahead of ITIC’s attendance at Oceanology 2012, in March 2012. This was sent to existing members, insurance brokers, known targets and potential members who were also due to exhibit at Oceanology. The Hydrographic focused Wire was also redistributed on World Hydrographic Day, 21st June 2012.

The Claims Review is published twice a year ahead of every Board Meeting and is one of the most well received publications which ITIC create. It is a variety of claims stories experienced by ITIC’s members.

Twitter: ITIC host a Twitter page and you are all welcome to follow us at: @ITICLondon.

Website

The new website was launched just over 12 months ago. It is designed to be more accessible to members, potential members and insurance brokers. There is a section dedicated to insurance brokers (entitled ‘Insurance Broker Services’) where quick links to proposal forms, the Rules, sample policies and the financial highlights can be found. Plans are in place to upgrade and revise the existing website based bills of lading online learning tool and to create more interactive loss prevention online seminars.

Seminars

There is usually a seminar to accompany an ITIC board meeting, with one to be held in London on 27th September 2012. Furthermore, the team at ITIC are always willing to provide loss prevention seminars to groups of members, or in-house training to individual members and insurance brokers. This is obviously where the travel calendar permits. Seminars in 2012/13 have already been planned for Sweden, Spain and France (one for shipbrokers and one for naval architects), along with attending the FONASBA meeting in Venice in October 2012.

ITIC Member and Broker Survey

A qualitative member and broker survey took place over the summer. Fifteen members and ten insurance brokers selected by sector and geographical area were interviewed to air their views on ITIC, its strengths and weaknesses. The findings were mainly positive, but there is always room for improvement and the team at ITIC are working on this and will report more fully at a later date.