Dispatcher
Average Adjuster (Engl. Average adjuster, general adjuster ) or average adjuster is a professional title of the shipping industry. The dispatcher is an officially certified expert for the settlement of damage caused by a general average (in German also called large average or collective average ). The handling of an average is called average and is regulated in the Commercial Code (HGB); international maritime trade law is also important. An average adjuster as a service on the parties created the in the accident damage incurred a loss distribution plan, the average statement .
tasks
An average can cause damage to people, the ships involved and their cargo. In addition, there may be environmental damage or claims for damages by third parties due to consequential damage. The cargo and the ship or ships usually belong to many different owners. As a result, the cargo, and sometimes the various parts of the ship itself, are usually covered by different insurance companies. The different risks for one and the same thing or person can also be insured with different companies.
To put it simply, the dispatcher has the task of determining, on the basis of the determined cause of the damage, the course of the damage and the extent of the damage, which material damage has occurred to the parties involved, how and where this damage is insured and who can be made liable for what. For this he must have detailed knowledge of national and international maritime and insurance law and of the regulations of shipping and maritime trade. The profession combines aspects from the professional fields of lawyer, expert and arbitrator .
The dispatcher is commissioned by one of the shipping companies , insurance companies or charterers involved . The order is a matter of trust, because once the parties have agreed on an arbitrator, they usually bow to his arbitration award. The scope of the assigned tasks and the remuneration are specified in advance in a contract.
The individual tasks of the dispatcher are very diverse and can employ entire teams of experts. A case can take several months to close. The adjuster makes an advance payment and, after successful completion, receives a fee of usually one to five per thousand of the damage amount, which can quickly amount to a few million euros.
There is no regular training for this profession. Dispatchers can be, for example, shipping clerks, insurance clerks, experts, lawyers or seafarers who have undergone further training and pass the relevant examination.
In Germany there are only a dozen or so average dispatchers who work in three or four companies.
Legal basis
Germany
The adjuster is mentioned in § 595 HGB . The arbitration procedure is assigned to voluntary jurisdiction in Germany ; The regulations of §§ 402 ff. FamFG are decisive .
literature
- Great (common) average. Transport information service from German transport insurers
- Dispatcher. Association of German Shipping Experts e. V.
- Johannes Holzer: The dispute procedure according to the FamFG . In: Transport Law. Vol. 36 (2013), pp. 357-365.
Individual evidence
- ↑ HGB in the version valid since the law reforming maritime trade law came into force on April 25, 2013. Until April 24, 2013, the content-related adjustment rules were regulated in Sections 728 ff. HGB old version.
