Robert Stauffer said: “I remember sitting with the board in the days after Katrina examining our response and then we watched as Rita came barrelling in.”

As a response OIL introduced a new policy for Atlantic Named Windstorm (ANWS) risks shortly before Hurricane Ike created a new wave of claims. It has since revised the way it approaches north Atlantic windstorm and how its members participate on an annual basis.

Mr Stauffer said that OIL had to admit that it had got its pricing for coverages wrong as Ike provided a level of claims which had not been factored in its changes just 12 months previously.

In response the mutual has created a new scheme which was introduced this year which makes the definition between those risks which have ANWS exposure and those that did not.

The limit per occurrence was also reduced to $750 million from $1 billion but Mr Stauffer said the aim in the future was to raise the limit back to $1 billion although he said a windstorm free year could not be guaranteed to be the catalyst for such a change.

On the impact of the Macondo loss he added: “What it means for OIL both now and in the future is unsure. We have decided to wait to see the result of the legal and regulatory changes before we can plan any response.”

Mr Stauffer said the decision had been taken not to differentiate cyclone and windstorms risks outside of the Atlantic within its coverages but the changes made also now locked firms into the year of coverage and the liabilities which accrued.

Delegates also heard from Jerry Rivers COOI of OCIL, OIL’s  captive insurance operation who announced that it now had permission to change its structure to become more commercial and to underwriter new areas of risk.

He said the announcement by Munich Re that it was looking to create a new facility for meet the expected demand for offshore well risks was a welcome move and showed the industry was looking to respond to changes that may well be driven by regulatory decisions.