The Shipowners’ Club has published its first half-yearly financial report and has advised Members that no general increase will be imposed for the next policy year, 2011/12. Strong underwriting performance coupled with a small investment return result in a US$23.9M overall surplus, increasing free reserves to US$159.2million.
Shipowners’, the mutual P&I Club which specialises in providing liability insurance to smaller and more specialised vessels, has for the first time made public results of its half-year performance. At the same time the Club has also confirmed that no general increase will be applied to Members’ premiums at the 20th February 2011 renewal.
Commenting on the recent Board decision, Charles Hume, CEO stated, “We have applied general increases during recent renewals but in view of our encouraging first half results and the challenging operating environment still being experienced by many of our Members, we are pleased to announce now that no general premium increase will be applied for the 2011 policy year. That said, underwriters will be looking closely at the claims record and premiums paid by each Member and also assessing closely the risks associated with every vessel type. It is through this sort of prudent underwriting that the financial stability of the Club will be maintained.”
The results in question are indeed encouraging with the unaudited figures for the six-month period showing gross earned income of US$ 96.3M, which represents a 14% increase in debited income over the same period last year. In keeping with the experience of other P&I insurers, Shipowners reports a reduction in the number and value of claims despite the total number of vessels entered with the Club being reasonably constant at around 28,000 since 2007.
With claims reduced and income increasing, the six-month underwriting performance is predictably strong. In this regard, Shipowners reports an anticipated technical account surplus of US$21.1M, producing a combined ratio of 75.4%.
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
A pdf of the Half Year Report 2010/11 is available for download at www.shipownersclub.com
The Shipowners’ Club is a mutual marine liability insurer, providing Protection & Indemnity insurance to small vessels since 1855. The Club currently covers over 28,000 vessels from 6,322 Members worldwide and is a member of the International Group of P&I Clubs.
The Club has regional offices located in Luxembourg, London, Singapore and Vancouver.