In Steamship Mutual’s financial update and 2026 Renewal Board Meeting Report, held in Seattle on October 21st, the Group Club said that the Club’s own claims for the 2025/26 policy year at six months had been higher than budget expectations.
Briefly:
- At six months, there had been five International Group (IG) Pool claims reported by Clubs for the 2025/26 policy year.
- Prior-year own claims and contributions to other Clubs pool claims were developing worse than budget.
- As of September 20th the investment return amounted to $65m.
- At October 20th owned tonnage was up by 3.3% to 139m gt.
At the 2026/27 renewal there will be an 8% general increase applied to premium on all classes of business. There will also be general deductible increases for all Members.
For the 2025/26 Policy Year the Club’s estimated retained claims for the 2025/26 policy year as of August 20th were “significantly” higher than expected, driven by the number of large claims reported. Attritional claims (those reserved at $250,000 or less) were similar to last year and had shown only a modest increase over time.
Five claims have been reported to the IG Pool that exceed Club retention ($10m), including one from Steamship (and another where the Club has a quota share with other Clubs). At the same point last year, seven claims exceeding Club retention had been notified – of significantly higher value than this year.
For 2024/25 and Prior Years at six months the overall development of the Club’s prior year claims was worse than budgeted – notably for the 2024/25 policy year. There was a general deterioration in all business classes (except FD&D) and in IG Pool claims provisions. There were an additional eight 2024/25 Pool claims reported by all Clubs, alongside deterioration in existing claims (bringing the total to 23 Pool claims in that year).
Steamship was pleased to note the continued growth in the Club’s owned entry, up by 5.4m gt in the period February 20th to October 20th 2025, increasing the owned entry to 139m gt.
Total invested assets increased to $1.5bn. In the seven months ending September 2025 the Club recorded a return of 4.3%, excluding currency movements, amounting to $65m.
The Club said that premium levels were under pressure due to the increasing frequency and severity of claims, both within retention and the Pool. Therefore the Club’s Board decided that there should be a general increase of 8% in premium ratings for all classes of business.
In addition, the Board decided that all deductibles in respect of P&I, Damage to Hull and Extra Covers should apply to both the underlying claim and all associated fees, costs and expenses. In respect of FD&D covers, the minimum deductible will be increased to no less than $10,000 and the maximum Member contribution to no less than $75,000.
As usual the Managers have been instructed to correct individual Member premium ratings where necessary and to pass on to Members any adjustments in the costs of the IG reinsurance programme.
Given the elevated claims being experienced by the Club, it was decided not to make a capital distribution at this time.
After reviewing the development of open policy years and the overall financial position of the Club the Directors decided to apply release calls, for mutual Class 1 P&I and Class 2 FD&D entries, as follows:
| 2023/24: | 0% |
| 2024/25: | 10% |
| 2025/26: | 15% |
https://www.steamshipmutual.com/sites/default/files/medialibrary/files/L.468_0.pdf