Head of underwriting hails overseas offices for important role in winning new business

‘It’s the first judgment we’ve had in over 40 years on the collision regulations, and it really goes to town on how to interpret the regulations as they apply to all ships, not just big ones’ — barrister

‘Albeit working remotely and fully digitally our members and clients have coped extremely well with the situation,’ says Ståle Hansen

‘We saw many owners shifting more, or all, of their fleet to Gard,’ says chief underwriting officer Bjornar Andresen

With the renewals season drawing to a close, it is a timely moment to reflect on some of the challenges and opportunities the future will bring to the P&I sector

‘Based on what I’m seeing and hearing in the market, the number of owners actually changing clubs this year is less than what ordinarily might have been the case in years gone by,’ says Skuld’s Gregory Thomas

Ahead of the P&I renewals deadline we have been speaking to both sides of the annual battle. Clubs are seeking sharp increases in prices, while shipowners are trying their best not to end up paying more, sending their insurance brokers into bat to keep those rate hikes down. So who’s winning? This week we talk to: David Mahoney of Aon, Stephen Hawke of Ferrari, Gard’s chief underwriting officer Bjornar Andresen and Skuld’s executive vice-president Gregory Thomas.

‘We have a very strong renewal. It is a renewal of consolidation, that’s probably the theme this year. Some shipowners have more than one club, and they are consolidating the fleet into fewer insurers,’ argues Bjornar Andresen

‘It’s all well and good saying, we need 5%, but what are people paying to start with? Five per cent on $50,000 is not the same as on $100,000,’ argues Aon’s David Mahoney

US-based Mission Secure has linked up with InceMaritime to provide cyber threat hunting and incident response to Ince’s clients. This will be followed by sanctions due diligence using machine learning.

‘I’m told by my underwriting people that we are getting what we want, largely. I think we’re doing it, I don’t get the impression that we’re not,’ says American Club chief executive Joe Hughes

Two top marine insurance brokers offer differing assessments on whether owners are caving in to club rate hikes, as P&I year enters final week