The Club's Cover and Services

Club cover is constantly changing and developing as and when new liabilities are placed on shipowners. If a new liability arises which is not covered, and for which it is felt cover should be given, International Group Clubs will often confer on necessary alterations to the Club Rules which define the available cover, particularly if such alterations affect the Group Pool and Excess Loss Reinsurance contracts.

The Club offers two principal types of cover:

Class 1 Protection and Indemnity

The Club covers the Members' liability for seven major types of claim - cargo (e.g. claims for short delivery, loss or damage to cargo), crew (e.g. medical expenses, repatriation, compensation claims for death or injury), collision (to the extent such claims are not covered under hull policies), fixed and floating objects (e.g. damage to docks), third party injury and death claims (e.g. stevedores, passengers), oil pollution, and miscellaneous (which includes fines, wreck removal and various other types of claim not included in the other major categories). The cover also includes costs and expenses incurred in investigating and handling claims falling within the Rules.

For shipowners, with effect from 20th February 2000, the cover in the case of oil pollution is limited to $1,000,000,000 each accident. Owners' cover for other risks is limited by reference to the Club's ability to recover overspill calls from Members. Club cover for charterers is provided subject to a fixed limit.

Members' liability to pay overspill calls that would have to be raised by Clubs to meet claims in excess of the limit of reinsurance under the International Group Excess Loss Reinsurance contract is limited by reference to each entered vessel's limit under the Limitation Convention of 1976.

Class 2 Freight Demurrage and Defence

This cover protects Members against legal expenses which they may incur in establishing or resisting certain types of disputes which are not covered under Class 1. Class 2 cover does not extend to the amounts in dispute, but only to the costs of lawyers or other experts employed in handling the claim, and is normally provided on an unlimited basis.

Besides these two traditional covers, the Club offers a comprehensive range of covers for charterers and a variety of ancillary covers to Class 1 Members.

NOTE: Full details of the covers provided can be found under the "Rules and Covers" section of this site. 

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