West of England protection and indemnity club is making a move into legal and claims consultancy as it continues its diversification drive.
The shipping insurer said it is forming an operation called Qwest with C Solutions, a consultancy run by former Ince & Co shipping casualty head Chris Beesley.
The club said it believes this is the first tie-up between a P&I insurer and a legal claims company.
Qwest will provide legal advice and fee cover structure for shipowners, operators and charterers, as well as specialist cover for shipmanagers that do not have access to the benefit of a shipowner’s defence cover.
The idea is to fill gaps in traditional shipmanager cover while giving access to a marketplace for realising illiquid trade finance assets. It will also offer asset tracing and enforcement in "challenging" market conditions, the companies said.
This will involve forensic accountancy and demurrage handling and recovery.
The C Solutions team includes master mariners and lawyers.
Long history of partnership
Chris Beesley and his team have worked closely with the West's claims staff for 20 years.
H told TradeWinds: "It’s a small acorn that has quickly grown into a big oak."
A partnership began to be explored early last year.
"But Qwest only really started to put down roots when we met at Maritime Cyprus in October 2019," Beesley said.
"Then later that month the West board quickly identified the opportunities this venture could generate, and signed off further exploration of a potential partnership. We’ve been actively constructing it since then."
Beesley, C Solutions' group executive chairman, said the initial concept was a financing suite, but "we quickly realised that the one-plus-one of West and C Solutions could add up to much more than two.
"There’s a lot of talent on both sides of this equation, and we keep finding new synergies, brands, and business streams," he added.
Easy fit for partners
C Solutions has been involved with some of the club’s more difficult cases in the past.
West of England chief executive Tom Bowsher said the company is respected across all its offices, which made the partnership really straightforward to integrate.
"It surprised me to learn that this is the first time a P&I club has entered into a joint venture of this kind, because it feels like a very natural fit," he added.
The club has been on a diversification drive lately, teaming up with cyber risk company Astaara earlier this month and with Sweden's Nordic Marine Insurance on delay cover in February.
"We're determined not to follow the crowd. Risk management in shipping is evolving, and we’ve got a clear strategy in place to lead this change," Bowsher said.
"Unfortunately, some of the risk management products and services available on the market are not fit for purpose. The reality is that in many areas of voyage activity shipowners aren’t getting the support they require – and Qwest is here to change that."
Beesley said that the more services put under one roof, the more efficient it is for shipowners, operators and managers.
Qwest looking for its own identity
Bowsher added that the new operation will need to be able to stand on its own two feet.
"For the next few years, we’ll be targeting steady growth, and from our preliminary conversations we know that there’s demand for Qwest’s new products and services. We want Qwest to form its own identity, whilst benefiting from the expertise and knowledge of its parent companies," he added.
C Solutions started off as a claims company and has added services in response to shipowner demand.
"But the reality is that we’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of what we can offer them," Beesley said.
The lawyer said the partnership has helped "catalyse" creativity for both sides of the partnership.
He added: "There are more consultancies fishing in a smaller pond, and that's a big driver for us. We've got to be more efficient; we've got to be more competitive; we've got to add more value for money – and these investments we’re making in Qwest will provide the foundation of our future growth."
