Work-flow in the procedure of marine insurance claims

Abstract

The claims’ collection procedure follows certain stages, which need further analysis. The levels of difficulty are rather significant and therefore an interdisciplinary approach is necessary. The work-flows in this procedure must follow a logical order, both by the policyholder and his representatives, as well as by the insurance company and the P & I clubs.The present Congress (as it is defined by its theme), offers the possibility of a systematic analysis of different fields of knowledge and hence that of Claims, through the presentation and analysis of the workflow in Marine Insurance Claims. Such a Claim appears when a risk prescribed by the policy contract occurs and ends with the payment of the compensation from the insurer. It is a fact that the most important way of dealing with Claims is the prevention of their formation. However it is reasonable that taking into consideration the multi-diversity of maritime companies and their “difficulty coefficient”, the prevention of risks is often rather difficult. Therefore whenever a named peril raises, the procedure of claims’ resolution starts. The first step in the management of claims is the report of the incident by the Captain to the shipping company, to the insurance company and the P & I club provided that the incident concerns the P & I club. Alternatively the incident shall be reported to the insurance company by either the shipping company or by the insurance broker. The assortment of evidence and proofs, which help towards a more efficient management of claims, follows in the next step. In any case, the insurance company must be notified of the claim with a relative note of the policyholder, within a certain deadline starting from the moment the incident occurred or should have come to the knowledge of the ship-owners. If this requirement hasn’t been met a claim can’t be substantiated from the policyholder.