The Joint Hull Committee (JHC) has warned that recent increases in hull insurance rates following the spate of casualties at the end of 2002 may not be enough to return to necessary levels of profit.
The JHC says that losses such as those produced by the Diamond Princess, Prestige and Tricolor casualties, among others, have served to focus the attention of all markets on the basics of rating and return on capital, with
some significant hardening of rates achieved during the recent round of renewals.
JHC chairman Simon Beale said: "These increases alone would appear not to be enough to return the account to the necessary levels of profit, especially for newer tonnage.
"The global under-performance of the hull insurance market, and its consistent failure to achieve commercially realistic rates, has left an inadequate premium base to meet the losses and business costs that will inevitably accrue."
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