BILA is the UK National Chapter of the Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances (AIDA), a not-for-profit organisation founded in 1960 with the aim, through international collaboration, of promoting knowledge of international and national insurance law, as well its development and successful application to the conduct of insurance and related dispute resolution.
AIDA now has Chapters in over 40 countries, two regional groupings – CILA (its Spanish, South and Central American regional grouping) and AIDA Europe (its European grouping) and affiliated chapters in the form of ARIAS (AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Societies) entities which afford arbitration services across Europe, the Americas and Asia.
BILA is presently the second largest in terms of membership of all AIDA’s National Chapters, which through AIDA can draw on the combined experience and resources of a total of approximately 10,000 people around the world involved with insurance in a variety of capacities.
Go to AIDA Noticeboard or to the Forthcoming Events and Meetings pages of the AIDA website for AIDA news and details of forthcoming events.
AIDA holds World Congresses in different host countries every four years – in 2023 its XVIth World Congress was held in Melbourne. Other events and activities take place more regularly of its regional groupings, its national sections and of its (presently 12) dedicated working parties, addressing discrete issues of concern on a cross-border basis.
BILA has had a representative on the AIDA Presidential Council continuously since 1964. Four of these have been awarded AIDA Medals: the late Dr Gordon Shaw (AIDA Presidential Councillor and co-founder of BILA); the late John Butler, AIDA President (1992-2000); and Honorary Presidents, Colin Croly (AIDA Secretary-General, 1990-2017 and past Chair, AIDA Europe and of the Reinsurance Working Party) and Professor Rob Merkin (AIDA Presidential Councillor, 1994-2018, AIDA Vice President, 2010-8 and Chair, AIDA Scientific Council, 2019-23).
Michael Mendelowitz, formerly an AIDA Assistant Secretary-General, is an Honorary Member of the AIDA Presidential Council. Since 2010 Tim Hardy has been a member of the Presidential Council, Chair of the Climate & Catastrophic Events Working Party. He is also presently Co-Chair, AIDA Europe, having served in a number of executive positions in the AIDA World and AIDA Europe Executive Committees). Ozlem Gurses also serves on the Presidential Council and is Chair of the Reinsurance Working Party.
BILA hosted the VIth AIDA World Congress in 1982 and co-hosted the IVth AIDA Europe Conference in 2012. It is considering again the co-hosting of another AIDA Europe Conference in coming years.