All 12 Clubs in the International Group of P&I Clubs finished the 2025/26 policy year in overall surplus, according to Tysers' latest annual P&I report.
Investment returns of more than US$1 billion did most of the heavy lifting, with five of the 12 Clubs achieving a positive technical result, meaning their underwriting alone was profitable before investment income was added.
The combined result pushed free reserves across the International Group up by US$800 million to nearly US$6.8 billion. Tysers called it a significantly stronger year than 2024/25, despite continued geopolitical, operational and financial volatility across shipping.
Protection and indemnity insurance covers shipowners and charterers against third-party liabilities arising from their vessels, spanning everything from crew injury and cargo damage to pollution and collision. The International Group's member Clubs collectively provide liability cover for 90% of the world's ocean-going tonnage, which is what makes their combined financial health a genuine bellwether for the marine liability market and the reinsurers standing behind it.
The scale of the turnaround is clearer set against 2024/25. Insurance Business UK reported on Gallagher Specialty's 2025 Pre-Renewal Review at the time, which found the market's combined ratio had climbed to just under 110% that year, driven by a 21% surge in incurred claims from US$3.08 billion to US$3.73 billion in what was expected to be the worst pool year on record.
Tom Wilson (pictured), chief executive of Tysers, said a quieter claims picture made the difference this time around.
"2025/26 was another complex year for the shipping industry, but fewer large casualties and stability in lower-value claims resulted in improved underwriting results for most Clubs," he said. "Coupled with excellent investment results, the International Group has emerged from a challenging period in excellent shape and is, arguably, stronger financially than it has ever been."
Gallagher Specialty's own analysis of the 2025/26 results broadly backs up Tysers' reading, though the two brokers measure the market slightly differently. Gallagher puts the market-wide underwriting loss at US$250 million, with an average financial-year combined ratio of 105% to 108%, a 28% improvement on the prior year's US$352 million deficit. It estimated investment gains of about US$1.125 billion and free reserves of roughly US$6.8 billion, up US$850 million, a figure that includes a US$31 million boost from the UK Club's group restructuring.
The two sets of numbers tell essentially the same story from different angles. Underwriting still isn't paying its own way across the market as a whole, but it's improving quickly, while investment income has left the International Group's balance sheets stronger than at any point in recent memory.
For brokers placing mutual P&I, the question now is how Clubs will use that financial strength at the February 2027 renewal. Wilson said Tysers expects a calmer season, with room for the strongest Clubs to hand money back to members.
"We are hoping for a comparatively benign renewal season," he said. "While many Clubs will still be seeking premium increases as they work towards a balanced technical position, we believe the level of free reserves now enjoyed by the stronger Clubs means it is time for them to consider returning excess funds to their members."
Last season's pricing gives some sense of the starting point. The Swedish Club approved a 5% general increase for both P&I and freight, demurrage and defence for the 2026/27 policy year, a slight hardening on the year before, when the equivalent increase applied only to P&I premiums. Lockton's own review of the same renewal found general increases across the International Group averaged 6%, with seven of the 12 Clubs settling on 5% and the American Club and Steamship Mutual asking for the highest increase, at 8%.
Against that backdrop, brokers report that other Clubs used the renewal to grow rather than simply raise price: the London P&I Club posted tonnage growth of 14.5%, and Skuld grew its mutual P&I tonnage by 6% over the same period.
If more Clubs move closer to technical balance while reserves keep climbing, shipowner members and their brokers will be well placed to push back on general increases at the next renewal, and to press the better-capitalised mutuals specifically on capital returns.
That leverage has real limits, though, since investment-driven surpluses depend on markets that can turn quickly, and a single bad pool year could easily erase much of the cushion the Clubs have just built up. Tysers plans to revisit the picture before the renewal itself.
"Tysers will continue to track the P&I market with a particular focus on the Clubs' renewal strategies in our usual December update to the report," Wilson said.
