Claims Commentary

The need to interpret and comply with a range of environmental regulations is a growing feature of transportation businesses.

The claims environment remains favourable. The number of reported claims has fallen slightly for the third year in a row. A reduction has been seen in the number of both indemnity claims and debt collections handled by ITIC.

It is four years since the English Supreme Court held that expert witnesses involved in legal proceedings no longer enjoyed protection from liability for negligence. The last year saw the first claim against a member acting as an expert witness settled by ITIC. The need to interpret and comply with a range of environmental regulations is a growing feature of transportation businesses. One of the notable claims of the last 12 months involved the correct application of EU sulphur regulations. A common problem for members that provide design services is finding themselves included in disputes when the real cause of the problem lies with the manufacturing process. The legal and technical costs of defending the designer’s interests can be high - even if the designer is ultimately exonerated. Recent claims of this nature have involved projects involving yacht masts and switches used in a railway signalling system. Details of these and other claims handled by ITIC can be found in Claims Review 33 available on the website www.itic insure.com.

An issue that has continued this year is attempts to defraud members and their clients. In April 2014 ITIC issued a circular warning members of a scam which has resulted in pre-funded port costs being diverted to a fake bank account. During the last 12 months fraudsters widened their targets within the marine industry. Recent cases have included the theft of “cash to master” funds being sent to agents, payments made by a ship manager to a parts supplier and freight paid to ship agents. In the last year ITIC has issued three further circulars on fraud, copies of which can be found at www.itic-insure.com.