A. GENERALLY

24.1 The liabilities imposed on shipowners can amount to potentially enormous claims against their P&I Clubs. To fund such cover is theoretically quite simple under the mutual system by virtue of the fact that claims can be met by the members’ mutual obligation to contribute by way of unlimited calls. This system of having a “whip-round” to meet unexpectedly large claims was, however, partly responsible for the demise of a number of old mutual clubs where members could not predict their premium contributions in advance and often found themselves unable to cope with unexpectedly large emergency or supplementary calls.