Membership : Why Join?
The Club helps Members to protect their businesses.
It provides:
- a way to deal with commercial disputes over uninsured sums
- cover for the costs of litigation - which can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars
- balance sheet protection
- advice and assistance
all at a predictable annual cost.
Advantages
The UK Defence Club offers many advantages compared with its competitors. For example:
- no mandatory contributions or deductibles as conditions of entry
- no history of additional or supplementary calls
- other providers of legal costs cover that are part of a P&I Club frequently charge additional calls
- legal and other fees are normally paid directly rather than requiring the Member to pay first
Cover is provided on a mutual basis
Mutual status means:
Independence
The Club is owned by the Members. It operates for the Members' collective benefit and is not influenced by outside interests.
Control
The Club is controlled by a Board of Directors elected by the membership. The Board, made up of representatives of Member shipowners and operators, determines Club policy across a wide range of strategic issues including calls, finances, investments and regulatory matters. They also decide whether to support Members for the costs involved in major litigation.
Competitive pricing
The Club is run on a "not for profit" basis, so there are no outside shareholders pressing for dividends and no institutions expecting returns from Club funds.
Dynamic cover
Cover develops to reflect new and different types of claim Members may face.
Flexibility
The Directors can consider claims that do not fall specifically within the defined cover.
Review
The Club considers each case on its own facts and merits to decide whether to give an individual Member support - which would mean paying arbitration or court costs from Club funds.
Most cases are supported. In some cases, support may be declined. If for example, a Member:
- has received unfavourable legal advice;
- has acted unreasonably;
- was proposing to take action that was not cost-effective;
the claim would not normally be supported. However, if a claim were to involve a matter of general importance to the shipping community so that the membership as a whole stood to benefit by pursuing it, then support may be given, even if the legal merits was unfavourable.