§ Mr. ForthTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what agreements he proposes to enter into with British war risks insurance associations.
§ Mr. ChannonI have today entered into separate agreements with 10 British mutual war risks insurance associations under the Marine and Aviation Insurance (War Risks) Act 1952, to provide reinsurance against war risks to shipping. They replace agreements entered into in 1954 and 1959, and provide similar cover for the reinsurance of British-owned ships against war risks arising from hostilities involving the United Kingdom.
They include, however, an important new provision that ships on foreign registers may be covered when I give my consent. This will allow the benefits of government reinsurance for war risks to shipping to be extended to shipping beneficially owned by British interests and registered in foreign states. The new agreements are in line with the new rules that the associations have adopted this year; the rules and the agreements both reflecting the changes that have in recent years taken place in the marine insurance market. They are, though, more closely integrated with the rules and considerably simpler than those they replace.