The marine legal expenses insurance

Abstract

The legal expenses insurance is discovered in the world of Maritime Law as a coverage full of pecularities. First of all, because it is excluded from the scope of the Spanish Insurance Contract Act, and also because the claims of the contractors go beyond the mere assumption of the costs of legal professionals and the provisions of the Commercial Code, dated 1885. If the Spanish Law governing Insurance Contracts excludes from its Section 9 on the legal expenses insurance disputes or risks «arising out of or relating to the use of ships and marine vessels», how is provided legal cover for such issues?

In this way, P&I Clubs are particularly relevant. These groups of mutual stakeholders, who impose their standards to members, provide similar coverage, but not analogous, to legal defense through what is called «FD&D». The similarities between the two institutions are affected by strong contrasts, outstanding among which are the large differences in maximum financial limits covered, and the global and international character of disputes, approach that must be made from the study and analysis of the own P&I Clubs rules.

It is noteworthy that this is a regime governed by the autonomy of the will, something already provided by the Spanish Commercial Code, although in this case, autonomy means free entry into the Club, because from hence, the governing bodies thereof shall be those who will have broad discretion to decide how and when provide this coverage. P&I Clubs have a large number of professionals available twenty-four hours for that purpose, and these manage all aspects of the procedure and experts, from the very moment they are aware of any such claim.