Guests at 2015 annual dinner of Association of Average Adjusters, Savoy Hotel, London.
A capacity attendance of 284 people graced the 2015 annual dinner of the Association of Average Adjusters in the grand Lancaster Ballroom of the Savoy Hotel in London. Present were Fellows, Associates and other members of the Association, underwriters, insurance brokers, members of the legal profession and representatives of the London and international maritime industry.
The dinner, a highlight of the marine insurance calendar, is held each year on the evening of the day on which the Association’s annual general meeting takes place. As has become usual, there was a strong contingent at the dinner from Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America.
The elegant venue is named after the Duchy of Lancaster, dates back to 1910, and is redolent in its design of an 18th century Parisian salon.
After the loyal toast, proposed by the 2014/15 chairman of the Association, Paul Rowland, the speeches took on their customary light-hearted tone, albeit with more than a nod to the august record of the legal profession and the Association.
Paul Silver, a Fellow and former chairman of the Association and a director of Richards Hogg Lindley, proposed a toast to the Bench and the legal profession. He underlined the need for average adjusters and the legal profession to communicate clearly, and referred to the 2015 Insurance Act, the wide-ranging reforms of which will come into force largely in mid-2016 and among other changes make it harder for insurers to avoid claims because of technical breaches by the assured.
In response, Paul Griffiths, senior partner at law firm Bentleys, Stokes and Lowless, said: “We are all part of the shipping industry and supply complementary services.” He said that he had been deeply impressed by all the average adjusters he had encountered in the course of his work.
Tristan Miller of UK-based adjusting firm Harvey Ashby and a Fellow of the Association, proposed a toast to the guests and Association subscribers, going on to describe briefly the historical background of the organisation.
The present day Association of Average Adjusters was founded in 1869. Among other significant maritime events, that year witnessed the opening of the Suez Canal and the construction on the Clyde of the clipper Cutty Sark.
Mr Miller outlined how the Association in earlier decades had periods of decline. One of its chairmen had many years ago suggested that it would become obsolescent as a result of the widespread use of radar by shipping. Now, hopefully, the tide was turning and numbers were increasing again. “We have a large number of Associates, and we can expect a few of these to [succeed in the examinations and] join the ranks as Fellows in the next few years, ” said Mr Miller.
In reply, Jostein Egeland, senior advisor to the Norwegian Hull Club, proposed a toast to the Association, its Fellows and Associates.
Top table guests included Stephen Rible, chairman of the Association of Average Adjusters in the US and Canada; Mike Harvey, a Fellow of the Association and president of the Association Mondial de Dispacheurs; Tetsuro Nakamura, chairman of the Average Adjusters Association of Japan; Vibeke Kofoed of the Nordic Average Adjusters Association ; Bob Clyne, president of the Maritime Law Association of the United States; and Stefano Cavallo, chairman of the Italian Average Adjusters Association.
The Association of Average Adjusters promotes professional principles in the adjustment of marine claims, uniformity of adjusting practice, and the maintenance of high standards of professional conduct. Irrespective of the identity of the instructing party, the average adjuster is bound to act in an impartial and independent manner. The Association plays an important part in London insurance market committees, and has strong relationships with international associations and insurance markets.
Please see www.average-adjusters.com
