Directors of the 175 million GT, ‘A’ rated North P&I Club have set a general premium increase of 2.5 percent for both protection and indemnity (P&I) cover and freight demurrage and defence (FD&D) cover in the 2016/17 policy year. According to the club, the relatively low increases compared to recent years reflects an improvement in itss financial position during 2015/16, with favorable claims development more than offsetting negative investment income.
According to North’s chairman Pratap Shirke, "North remains financially secure, with a strong capital position evidenced by Standard & Poor’s affirmation of its ‘A’ stable rating in January this year. This is our eleventh consecutive year with an ‘A’ rating and our consistently strong technical underwriting performance means Members have not been burdened by unbudgeted supplementary calls for 24 years."
Shirke said that while the club remains mindful of the difficult trading conditions that its members are operating under, the directors believe it is imperative to maintain the financial strength of the club and to continue with their strategic objective of not burdening Members with additional unbudgeted calls.
For the P&I class, the directors have decided to apply an overall increase of 2.5 percent on mutual and fixed premiums at the February 2016 renewal. Premiums will be further adjusted to reflect individual members’ claims performance and exposure, plus any changes in the costing and structure of the International Group of P&I Clubs’ excess-loss reinsurance program. All crew and cargo deductibles below $25,000 will be increased by $2,500 per deductible, and all other deductibles will go up by $1,000.
Mutual and fixed premiums for North’s FD&D cover will increase by 2.5 percent at the February 2016 renewal but there will be no change to deductibles.
Joint managing director Alan Wilson said, "We will again adopt a robust approach to the February 2016 renewal to ensure that suitable premium levels are achieved for each Member to cover their anticipated exposure. While this means most Members will be paying around 2.5 percent extra for their P&I cover, some could be paying significantly more."