Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) - July 2011

CIRCULAR REF: 2011/021

CIRCULATED TO ALL MEMBERS, BROKERS, DIRECTORS & SERVICE PROVIDERS

Electronic Document Management Systems are increasingly becoming a standardised practice worldwide, enabling organisations to comply with tighter legislation and regulations from governing bodies such as the FSA and to ensure that files are stored securely in the event of a disaster recovery incident.

North is implementing an updated EDMS on 1 August 2011 for all communications to and from the Club and we request that you send as much correspondence in electronic format as possible.

We have set out a few guidelines for you to follow: 

1.                   General  Correspondence

We prefer all correspondence to be sent to the Club by email, with attachments no larger than 10 megabytes in size per email.

If you know the name of the person handling the matter or you have regular contact with a member of staff at the Club, then please address it to the individual. All staff members can be reached using the email address format: forename.surname@nepia.com (e.g. kim.heaselden@nepia.com). Please click here to view our staff email addresses listed on our website.

If you do not know the name of the person handling the matter, please send your email to one of the general email addresses listed below:

Newcastle

Underwriting:                    underwriting@nepia.com

Claims:                             claims@nepia.com

Loss Prevention:                loss.prevention@nepia.com

Condition Surveys:            survey@nepia.com

Accounts:                         accounts@nepia.com

Greece:                             Piraeus@nepia.com

Hong Kong:                       HongKongOffice@nepia.com

Singapore:                        SingaporeOffice@nepia.com

Any matter requiring urgent attention out of office hours should be communicated by telephone. Please click here to view our staff contact details listed on our website.

2.                   Claims Correspondence

If you are sending correspondence to the Club that relates to a particular claim, please provide the vessel name and North’s reference number.

When sending documents to the Club, e.g. reports, claims documentation or charterparties, and they are in paper format, please scan and attach them to your email. Please do not forward paper copies unless requested to do so.

3.                   Condition Survey Reports

Condition survey reports should be submitted by email and not in hard copy. Photographs forming part of the report should be gathered as an album with descriptive text and in a PDF format, attached to the email.

4.                   Underwriting Correspondence

All Members’ documentation from the Club, such as Certificates of Entry and Debit Notes, will be sent electronically. All documentation from Members relating to vessel entry and renewal should be sent by email with attachments in PDF format, if required.

5.                   Invoices

Where service providers are registered with Feesable, the invoicing system developed by the International Group of P&I Clubs, they are urged to use that system whenever possible to submit invoices for fees and other claims-related expenditure.

Where service providers are not registered with Feesable or if for some other reason you are unable to use it, please email your fee invoice to the Club, together with any supporting narrative and documents, as well as third party expenses incurred where there have been such appointments. Please do not forward hard copies unless requested to do so.

We hope that these guidelines are helpful. If you have any questions regarding electronic correspondence, please do not hesitate to contact the management team for advice.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Alan Wilson & Paul Jennings

Joint Managing Directors – North Insurance Management Limited

As Managers on behalf of the North of England P&I Association Limited