Steamship Mutual has announced it will apply a 7.5% general increase in all classes of cover at next February’s policy renewal.
The London-based mutual is the first of the protection and indemnity insurers to announce its policy on premium for next year. The move is in line with brokers’ expectations that shipowners are set to be hit with another round of rate rises.
Steamship Mutual’s shipowner members will also be assessed on their individual claims performance.
The hike in rates comes after some generally positive developments at the club in the first six months of the current policy year.
Steamship Mutual said its own incurred claims were below budget, and there were no International Group of P&I Clubs pool claims in the first six months of the year.
The club also has managed to increase its entered tonnage by 3.5% in the year.
The improved underwriting performances means that next year’s general increase is well below the 12.5% applied by Steamship Mutual this February.
However, the development of prior-year International Group claims has been higher than expected.
Investment returns are also down because of interest rate changes and turmoil in the international equity markets.
For the seven months to the end of September, Steamship Mutual’s investments were down 4.4% amounting to a loss of $51m.
“Whilst underwriting performance for the first six months in 2022/2023 was better than expected, the board recognised the need for caution when projecting claims levels,” Steamship Mutual said.
“Considering these and other factors, the board decided that there should be a general increase of 7.5% in premium ratings for all classes of business.”
