The London P&I Club, a leading maritime protection and indemnity (P&I) insurer, posted an operating surplus of $36.3 million, bolstering its free reserves to $149.8 million in the 2023/24 reporting period.

This robust showing follows strategic actions taken by the Club to improve its risk profile and align pricing with claims and associated expenses. These measures translated into a favourable claims experience across all severity bands, with notable improvements in both high-value (over $1 million) and low-value (under $100,000) claims.

Gross Earned Premium climbed 4.5 per cent year-on-year, while a positive investment return of $17.4 million (5.0 per cent) further strengthened the Club’s financial position. The combined ratio, a key profitability metric in insurance, stood at a favourable 83.1 per cent.

“The work over recent years to address discrepancies between fleet premiums and risk profiles has helped to restore rates and deductibles to more sustainable levels. These measures have fed into the result especially at the attritional, day-to-day end of the claims range,” Ian Gooch, CEO of The London P&I Club, said. “It has been a concerted – and ongoing – effort with the strongest backing of the Board and we are grateful for the continued support and confidence of all of Members, Assureds and Brokers.’’

The results follow a positive renewal for the Club in February 2024, with targets met on rating and deductible increases and an 8.9 per cent growth in mutual tonnage compared to the previous year. Post renewal, the Club’s mutual book stood at 44.1m gt, up from the 40.5m gt seen 12 months prior.

Later this year Ian Gooch, will be stepping down after 15 years as CEO and 21 years as a Director of A. Bilbrough & Co., Managers of The London P&I Club. Ian Gooch will be succeeded by James Bean, from NorthStandard P&I Club. To ensure an orderly transition, Ian will remain with the Bilbrough team.