The Britannia Group has reported a profit of US$60.9 million for the 2025/26 policy year, driven by a sharp fall in claims and strong investment returns, as the London-based protection and indemnity (P&I) insurer's combined ratio improved to 111.3% from 137.7% the previous year. For brokers placing marine and shipowner risk, the result is one data point in a wider International Group recovery that has direct implications for how much room clients have to negotiate at the next P&I renewal.
Britannia, one of 12 members of the International Group of P&I Clubs, said the improvement reflected a return to more typical claims experience after a difficult 2024/25, when results were weighed down by a series of large and pool claims. Retained claims, those below US$10 million, fell 25% year on year, while pool claims were also lower in both number and value, though still elevated by historical standards.
The underwriting loss improved to US$27.9 million from a larger deficit the year before, a result Britannia attributed to the reduction in large claims and to renewal actions taken by its underwriting team over recent years. Investment income added US$88.8 million, including foreign exchange gains, representing a 9.0% return that the club said comfortably exceeded expectations despite volatility earlier in the year.
The result mirrors a broader recovery across the London-headquartered International Group, whose 12 member clubs together insure around 90% of the world's ocean-going tonnage. S&P Global had forecast an average combined ratio of 100% to 105% for the group's 2025 financial year, up from around 95% in the two preceding years, as pool claims rose after a historically quiet stretch. Several clubs, including the UK Club, London Club and Shipowners' Club, pushed through general increases of between 5% and 7.5% at the last renewal to correct pricing following heavier claims activity in 2024.
Britannia added US$32.1 million to free reserves over the year, even after returning approximately US$28.8 million to members following the February 2025 renewal. Free reserves now stand at US$572.2 million, with a further US$15 million returned to members in February 2026. S&P continues to rate the club's capital strength above its 99.99% confidence level, citing exceptional liquidity.
The club's February 2026/27 renewal was also positive, with entered tonnage rising from 143.7 million gross tons to 149.2 million gross tons between the morning and afternoon of the renewal date, reflecting new business gained during the period. For brokers, that capital strength and improving claims trend is the practical takeaway ahead of the next renewal round: clubs with reserves at or near record levels and normalising claims have less pressure to push through further large general increases than they did a year ago, which strengthens a broker's hand when negotiating terms for shipowner clients.
Britannia Group chair Egied Verbeeck (pictured) said geopolitical uncertainty continued to present challenges for shipowners, and that the club remained focused on supporting members while maintaining its trusted brand and commitment to mutuality. Verbeeck said the 2024/25 result had been affected by a series of one-off events, and that this year's figures, with claims returning to more normal levels, supported that assessment. He added that the club continued to work towards a breakeven underwriting result at a pace set by the board, consistent with its mutual approach.
Verbeeck's reference to geopolitical uncertainty lands at a sensitive moment for the London marine market, where Britannia and much of the International Group are headquartered alongside Lloyd's and the wider company market. Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea resumed in mid-2026 after a pause, prompting London war risk underwriters to widen the area classified as high risk around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and southern Red Sea ports.
War risk premiums, which sat at a nominal 0.05% of hull value before the crisis began in late 2023, had already surged twenty-fold at the height of the 2024 disruption, and rates for the most exposed voyages have moved sharply higher again as attacks on Saudi-linked vessels have continued. While war risk cover for Red Sea transits typically sits outside standard P&I policies and is arranged separately, the renewed volatility underlines the claims environment clubs are pricing into mutual calls - and it's the one area where brokers should expect continued upward pressure on terms regardless of how favourably the broader P&I market is trending, since it sits outside the general-increase negotiations covering the rest of a shipowner's cover.
The result places Britannia among a wider group of International Group clubs reporting improved underwriting performance for 2025/26 after a volatile prior year, when a resurgence in pool claims pushed several clubs' combined ratios above 110%. Investment income has again played an outsized role in offsetting underwriting losses across the sector, a pattern that has held for much of the past three years as bond and equity markets recovered from the 2022 downturn.
With free reserves at record levels across much of the International Group and capital returns becoming more common at renewal, clubs face a familiar tension between strong balance sheets and the case for further rate increases. Britannia's trajectory, from a 137.7% combined ratio to 111.3%, shows how quickly sentiment can shift when large claims ease, though the figure remains well above the 100% threshold that would signal underwriting profitability, and renewed instability in the Red Sea and Gulf could yet test that improvement in the year ahead - meaning brokers should treat the improved general P&I picture and the still-volatile war risk market as two separate negotiating conversations at renewal, not one.
The Britannia Group's full Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2026 is due to be published on the club's website in the coming days.
