The first council insurance company to be set up in more than a century has signed up another local authority. Tower Hamlets LBC joins Brent and Harrow as a member of the London Authorities Mutual Limited. LAML was created by the London boroughs to meet the corporate insurance needs of London authorities, and aims to cut the cost of insurance premiums for its members by as much as 15%. ‘This exciting project will allow us to work with other authorities in London, in order to achieve the best value possible for our insurance premiums,' explained Martin Smith, Tower Hamlets LBC chief executive. ‘As more councils join LAML and we pool resources, we will start to see a transformation in local authority insurance and risk-management practices.' It is expected a number of other London boroughs will join the company over the next few months. LAML's chairman, Nathan Elvery, said the company represented a ‘fresh injection' of competition into the market, and LAML's aims were to raise standards of insurance practice in local government.