Ben Harris, Chair of the International Group’s Salvage Committee and Sam Kendall-Marsden, Chair of the International Group’s Large Casualty Committee discuss about IG Club’s reaction to large casualties.
According to Mr. Harris, major casualties commonly involve wreck removal and pollution and these are the two things that have the greatest impact on local communities. But they’re also the two greatest drivers of the cost of very large claims.
Within the group we’re keen to maintain the sustainability of the system uh including the unrivaled breadth and depth of the cover that we provide. So we came up with a two-pronged strategy in order to achieve that
Firstly the group wanted to maintain the confidence of its reinsurance partners, as they support the group in paying for the very large claims and making sure that the funds are there to compensate claimants and also respond properly to wreck removal and claims of environmental damage.
The second point is reaching out to maritime states to convey to them that the group is responsible and responsive underwriters who will do the right thing in the event of a casualty.
Regarding the work of the Large Casualty Committee, Mr. Harris stated that:
The most important thing is that we now have much better relationships with those states, we have points of contact within their organisation so that in the event of a major casualty we know who to talk to
He also added that in a broader sense the work that the group does supports claimants being compensated promptly and properly, while the responses to major marine casualties are effective, performed properly, and that afterwards work is done to restore the marine environments as best as possible.
