London-based marine insurance mutuals Britannia and the UK P&I Club have both announced general increases in annual premium at next February’s renewal.
The Thomas Miller-managed UK P&I Club’s planned 7.5% increase is the largest hike announced so far among the International Group of P&I Clubs’ members.
In addition, the UK P&I Club said it would apply a 10% increase to its members’ deductibles, with those shipowners with an adverse claims record potentially seeing a higher increase.
Britannia’s increase is also 7.5%. Gard, Steamship Mutual and the Shipowners’ P&I Club earlier announced increases of 5%.
Britannia said it needed to raise rates to address the club’s continued underwriting deficit.
Britannia softened the blow of the pending rate increase for its members by deciding to return $10m in the form of a capital redistribution.
Track record
It said it had a good track record on returning capital to members, which have benefited from $145m in call waivers and capital since 2016.
“The Britannia Group remains financially strong but rate increases are still required for the 2024/25 renewal to maintain the progress made so far in addressing the underwriting deficit,” Britannia said.
Both Britannia and the UK P&I Club have a AAA capital adequacy rating.
