The West of England is a leading Protection and Indemnity Club providing its global membership with liability insurance and ancillary cover and safeguarding and promoting the interests of ship owners , charterers and operators in many areas of their activity
The Club was originally founded by British ship owners in 1832 as a non profit-making hull insurance mutual to provide ‘at cost’ cover in competition with Lloyd's and the marine insurance companies.
In an increasingly hostile liability environment for ship owners which accompanied rapid expansion in the shipping industry in the latter part of the nineteenth century, ship owners needed to find adequate and cost effective insurance cover for cargo and other third party liabilities. As a consequence the first mutual liability club was established in 1855 and The West of England Steam Ship Owners’ Protection and Indemnity Association was formed in 1870. It soon established itself as a leading marine liability insurer and one of the first to attract foreign flag tonnage.
In 1969 the Club’s P and I business was transferred to the West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association (Luxembourg). In 1986 the remainder of its business – Freight, Defence and Demurrage , Crew Strikes and Shore Strikes was also transferred to the new entity.
With an entered tonnage of over 70 million gross tons owned, operated and chartered by members worldwide, the West of England has a Board of Directors that represents all sectors of the shipping industry. The Board meets on a regular basis to review the financial performance of the Club and also to determine policy and strategy.
The Club’s day to day activities are delegated to its wholly owned management subsidiary, West of England Insurance Services (Luxembourg) SA, and there are West of England offices in London, Hong Kong, Piraeus and Luxembourg. The fact that the Club's management is wholly owned by the Club and its Members ensures that the alignment of interest between the Members and the managers remains paramount and will remain so in the future.
In addition to the five staff working in the Club's Principal Office in Luxembourg, the West of England's employees now total about 145 - with about 108 in London, 28 in Hong Kong and 9 in Greece. All are committed to providing a high level of service to the membership, assisted by the latest communications and computing technology.
The Club's activities are also supported by correspondents in every major port, together with lawyers, surveyors, consultants, banks and investment advisors around the world.
West of England Insurance Services (Luxembourg) S.A.
Registered in Luxembourg No: RCB104783
Registered Office: 33 Boulevard Prince Henri, L-1724 Luxembourg, G.D. Luxembourg
UK Branch: Tower Bridge Court, 224-226 Tower Bridge Road, London SE1 2UP
Managers for:
The West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association (Luxembourg)
Registered in Luxembourg No: RCB8963