Despite a renewed increase in serious losses in global shipping, German marine insurers performed better last year.
This is according to the annual statistics of the German Insurance Association (GDV), which were presented in Berlin in mid-February.
According to the statistics, the combined ratio in the transportation and aviation insurance segment improved to 95% in 2024. This means that after deducting claims, administrative and acquisition costs, 5% of premium income remained as a surplus. The ratio was 96.8% in the previous year and even 100.1% in 2022. Insurers were once again able to slightly increase their business volume in the transport sector, with premium income rising by around 2% to €2.6 billion. The focus here is traditionally on goods transportation insurance. However, the figures do not fully cover the market. Allianz, for example, as a leading player, is not a member of GDV. According to its own figures, the company recorded a global premium volume of €1.5 billion in the transportation sector last year.
Fewer claims managed for insurers
The GDV figures are not broken down into sub-segments such as marine hull or cargo. However, it is becoming apparent that 2024 was also a relatively good year for marine hull insurers. The Verein Hanseatischer Transportversicherer (VHT), which unites all leading players in the hull segment in the German market, reported a sharp decline in claims managed in 2024 to €53.3 million, down from €171.5 million in the previous year.
After an “exorbitantly bad previous year”, claims expenditure has now even fallen below the average level of previous years, said VHT Chairman Tobias Braun. “This is very good news for the German hull market.” In contrast to the previous year, the three largest individual claims in the marine hull segment at VHT were each well below €10 million. According to current estimates, the most expensive was a fire on a ro/ro ship (€7.3 million), followed by a fire on a general cargo ship (€3.1 million) and damaged floating dock (€1.5 million). (mph)
