As the 2025-26 P&I renewal season concludes, the industry has once again navigated complex negotiations amid evolving market conditions. Maria Mavroudi, Founding Partner of Searock Marine Insurance Brokers, provides an overview of how this year’s Protection and Indemnity (P&I) renewals unfolded, highlighting key trends, challenges, and expectations for the P&I year ahead.
Market Overview
In 2025, shipowners continued to face a volatile landscape shaped by economic pressures, geopolitical instability, claims inflation, rising reinsurance costs, and increasing environmental regulations. P&I Clubs took a firm stance on pricing, maintaining or raising premium levels to ensure financial stability.
Key Trends and Developments
Rate Adjustments, Moderate General Increases, and Selective Underwriting
For a fifth consecutive year, all Clubs apart from the Shipowners’ Club applied general increases, typically ranging from 5% to 10%, depending on their financial status and claims performance. These adjustments were driven by the need to maintain solvency margins and cover escalating claims costs. Early market indications suggest that the overall premium increase for this renewal was approximately 2.5% to 3.5%, a notable decline from the 7.5% to 12.5% hikes observed between 2020 and 2023.
Underwriters maintained a strong focus on risk selection, rewarding well-performing Members with competitive terms while imposing deductible along with premium increases on loss-making accounts. Some underwriters made concessions for Members with strong claims records, substantial fleets, or newly added tonnage. This trend widened the gap between high-quality, low-risk fleets and those with a poor claims history.
For 2025, renewal offers were issued earlier than in previous years. However, the overall process remained slow due to the internal underwriting due diligence procedures of the Clubs. Many Members were reluctant to finalize renewals until they secured terms that met their expectations.
Advancements in technology and AI are transforming the way brokers analyze data, assess risk, and provide insights for P&I (Protection & Indemnity) renewals. With AI-driven analytics, we can process vast amounts of historical and real-time data, identify trends, and offer more precise risk assessments. This allows Members to make well-informed decisions, negotiate better terms, and optimize their coverage in line with market averages.
AI-powered predictive modeling also helps in forecasting potential claims and loss ratios, giving both ourselves as brokers and underwriters a more strategic approach to risk management.
In addition, a number of Clubs opted to distribute capital back to their Members, aligning their interests with those of the mutual insurance structure. These distributions help strengthen relationships, reinforce confidence in financial management, and enhance Member retention.
Beyond pricing, the quality of service remains a crucial factor in P&I insurance. While competitive rates matter, having a P&I Club that understands a Member’s operations and provides swift, tailored support during challenging situations is invaluable. Many shipowners are willing to pay slightly higher premiums for exceptional service that minimizes disruptions and financial strain.
Reinsurance Costs and Pool Claims Impact
The International Group’s GXL reinsurance contract faced another round of pricing pressure due to large claims and geopolitical uncertainties. The rising costs of marine casualties due to inflation, peoples’ claims, and environmental liabilities continued to climb. On a positive note, we could say that the investment perspective is more favorable compared to previous years.
2024-25 proved to be an active year for claims, particularly high-value Pool claims exceeding $10 million. The increase was particularly steep for container vessels, rising by nearly 24%, largely due to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore—anticipated to be a record-breaking loss for marine reinsurers. Market sources estimate total liability claims from this incident could range from $1.5 billion to $2 billion.
Geopolitical Risks and War Risk Surcharges
Ongoing conflicts and heightened security concerns have further complicated the insurance landscape. Geopolitical instability has led to adjustments in the territorial scope of P&I coverage, with war risk insurance playing a growing role in managing exposure. Beyond direct war-related risks, P&I insurers must also account for broader geopolitical factors such as political instability, trade restrictions, environmental regulations, and disruptions in global trade and maritime operations.
Additionally, Members have increasingly sought to expand Freight, Demurrage & Defence (FD&D) cover and cyber risk protection. The rising complexity of maritime trade disputes and digital threats has underscored the need for enhanced coverage in these areas.
Conclusion
The 2025-26 P&I renewal cycle reflected continued market discipline in pricing and risk selection. Shipowners and charterers who invested in loss prevention, compliance, and strong operational practices found themselves in a better negotiating position, while those with adverse claims histories faced steeper cost pressures.
Shipping remains a people-driven industry, and the support a Member receives during difficult times is a key determinant of loyalty to their P&I Club. Strong relationships, responsive claims handling, and effective risk management continue to shape renewal decisions and long-term partnerships between shipowners and their P&I Club. Our role as trusted intermediary apart from negotiating competitive terms and widest coverage for Members, is to ensure that both the Club and the member work together effectively and maintain a strong and mutually beneficial relationship. This balance is essential for fair negotiations, smooth claims handling, and long-term stability.
Looking ahead, adaptability to market changes, proactive risk mitigation strategies, and staying informed about global shipping developments will be essential for securing favorable coverage terms in future renewals. P&I insurance will continue to serve as a critical safeguard for the maritime industry, ensuring global trade remains on course.
Wishing all a successful P&I year ahead!
Searock Marine Insurance Brokers is a boutique specialist in marine insurance, providing expert advisory, risk management, and brokerage services to shipowners, charterers, and maritime operators. Committed to integrity and transparency, Searock delivers tailored coverage solutions, fosters strong insurer-client relationships, and advocates for fair negotiations. With deep industry expertise, the team helps clients navigate risks and regulatory challenges with confidence and efficiency.
