Three more protection and indemnity insurers have said they will ask members for additional premium at the policy renewal in February 2022.
The Standard Club said it will set a general increase of 12.5% as investment income in the current policy year is unlikely to cover its underwriting losses.
It will also raise members' deductibles — the proportion of a claim that is retained by a shipowner — by 10%. It will pass on any increase in the International Group of P&I Clubs' reinsurance costs directly to members, and expects its own reinsurance costs to rise.
The London P&I Club is targeting a 12.5% rise in premium income.
But the club, which recently announced a painful supplementary call on its members, said there would be no general increase applied to all members.
Instead, the higher premiums will be achieved through an analysis of each member’s individual risk and claims record.
The Shipowners' Club, which has announced the lowest general increase so far, is looking for an additional 5% from members. The additional premium will be "inclusive" of any rise in International Group reinsurance costs.
In its half-year figures, it reported an underwriting deficit of just $900,000, which is the smallest loss among P&I mutual insurers.
The club said it had been hit by an increase in Covid-19-related claims. It added that it is likely to cap the cover for communicable diseases at $10m because of limited availability of reinsurance for this type of claim. Although it had only limited underwriting losses, it said it needed to take measures against claims inflation and Covid-19-related claims.
"Given the number of Covid-19 outbreaks being experienced, we must expect that claims frequency will remain high for the foreseeable future," The Shipowners' Club said in a note to members.
"We also expect that, in the short term at least, inflation will be a more significant factor, with overall claims costs increasing due to higher charter rates, commodity prices and social inflation all contributing to overall claim costs."
The Shipowners' Club P&I cover focuses mainly on small and specialised tonnage.
All of the P&I mutual insurers that have announced premium policy for next year so far are looking for increases ranging from between 5% and 15%.
