General P&Icover
General P&Icover
General P&Icover
Shipowners insure against loss of or damage to their ships with hull underwriters.
• Diversion expenses
• Life salvage 1. Personal injury to or illness or loss
• Collision Liabilities of life of crew members
• Loss or damage to property other than cargo
The shipowner may be exposed to such claims
• Pollution in tort or under statute law, although it is more
• Towage contract liabilities usual for the claims to be made under the crew
• Liabilities under contracts and indemnities member's collective agreement or particular
contract of employment. The cost of medical
• Wreck liabilities treatment and of repatriation is covered, as are
• Cargo liabilities the funeral expenses of dead seamen and also
• Cargo's proportion of general average or salvage the cost of sending abroad a substitute for a
seaman who is sick or injured or for a seaman
• Certain expenses of salvors who dies. Where there is a particular employment
• Fines contract and this provides for unusually generous
• "Omnibus" cover compensation in the event of death, injury or
illness, the shipowner will normally be expected
to have cleared it in advance with the managers
Freight, demurrage and defence risks can be insured of the Club so that his additional exposure under
with the UK Defence Club. The UK Defence club the contract can be taken into account in the
provide insurance for the legal and other costs of assessment of his premium.
2. Personal injury to or loss of life of Club. Several Clubs extend the cover given in
stevedores respect of stowaways to include the like expenses
in respect of refugees who have been picked up
This is a frequent source of heavy claims in tort by the ship.
or under statute law against shipowners and thus
by them against their Clubs. Claims have been
specially heavy in US ports, although the number 6. Life salvage
of these claims has been reduced somewhat since
A shipowner may become obliged to pay a life
the introduction of the 1972 Amendments to the
salvage award to a person who has saved or
Longshoremen's and Harbour Workers' Compen-
attempted to save the life of persons on board
sation Act which narrowed the circumstances in
the salvaged vessel. Where property has also been
which the shipowner, as opposed to the employer
saved, the usual practice is for the property
of the stevedores, is liable for stevedore deaths
salvage award to be "enhanced" by an unspecified
and injuries.
amount in recognition of the life salvage service.
3. Personal injury to or illness or loss The whole award is then payable by the property
of life of passengers and others underwriters. But should the owner have to
meet a claim for life salvage alone, this will be
The shipowner may be exposed to claims in recovered from his Club.
respect of passengers carried on board his ship
in respect of injury, illness or death. These claims
may in certain jurisdictions be defeated or limited
in amount by the terms of the passenger ticket
but, whether this is so or not in the particular
case, the shipowner is covered for this risk. He
may also be liable in tort to persons other than
crew, stevedores and passengers who come on
board his ship for one purpose or another,
including surveyors, Customs officials, pilots and
so on. Cover in respect of liability to these
persons is also included.
5. Diversion expenses
Consider – if your usual insurers say it’s not covered, is it covered under defence?
How do I claim?
owners and charterers
terminals or others supplying services to ships It’s not just about legal fees!
Managers’ Agents Thomas Miller Insurance Services Thomas Miller & Co Ltd
Thomas Miller P&I Ltd 44 Montgomery Street Beijing representative office
90 Fenchurch Street Suite 1480 A908, 9/F New Poly Plaza
London EC3M 4ST San Francisco, No.1 Chaoyangmen Beidajie,
United Kingdom California 94104 Dongcheng District, Beijing 100010
Tel: +44 20 7283 4646 USA People’s Republic of China
Fax: +44 20 7549 4243 Tel: +1 415 956 6537 Tel: +86 10 6310 1147
Fax: +1 415 956 0685 Fax: +86 10 6310 1146
Thomas Miller (Isle of Man) Ltd
16-17 Mount Havelock Thomas Miller & Co Ltd
Douglas UK P&I Club Japan Branch Shanghai representative office
Isle of Man UK P&I Club Japan Branch Suite 310 Shanghai Bund No.12
IM1 2QG 8th Floor, 12 Zhong Shan Dong Yi Road
United Kingdom Suzuyo-Hamamatsucho Bldg. Huangpu District
Tel: +44 1624 645200 2-1-16 Kaigan Shanghai 200002
Fax: +44 1624 645201 Minato-Ku People’s Republic of China
Tokyo 105-0022 Tel: +86 21 6321 7001
Thomas Miller (Hellas) Limited Japan Fax: +86 21 6321 0206
PO Box 80071 Tel: +81 3 5442 6110
5th Floor, 93 Akti Miaouli Fax: +81 3 5442 6111 Thomas Miller (South East Asia) Pte Ltd
Piraeus 185 38 61 Robinson Road
Greece 12-02 Robinson Centre
Tel: +30 210 429 1200 Singapore 068893
Fax: +30 210 429 1207/8 Tel: +65 6323 6577
Fax: +65 6323 6277