6.15 Whether the marine insurance market is expanding is uncertain. The Australian market is considered by some to be contracting,195 with companies increasingly using overseas or captive insurers.196 Globally, the marine insurance market has sustained trading losses for several years. In London, Lloyd’s reported in 1998 that there had been deterioration in trading conditions in the market for marine insurance.197
6.16 In Norway, the Norwegian Central Union of Marine Underwriters (CEFOR) warned in 1998 that severe losses were a reality for all marine insurance
markets.198 It predicted that, as a consequence, insurers would have to pull out of the market or increase premiums to reflect accurately the risks underwritten.199 In its 1998 annual
190 APRA ‘General Insurance Market Statistics’ http://www.apra.gov.au/iands/Marketstats/gen_stats.htm (14 November 2000); APRA Selected Statistics on the General Insurance Industry — Year Ending December 1999 APRA 2000, table 6. Figures for the marine and aviation industry are aggregated. More detailed statistics are not collected.
191 APRA Selected Statistics on the General Insurance Industry — Year Ending December 1999 APRA 2000, table 8.
192 Ibid, table 10.
193 ‘General insurance’ in this context is all insurance apart from life and health. This figure is for the marine and aviation markets for the 12 months ending 31 December 1999: APRA ‘General Insurance Market Statistics’ http://www.apra.gov.au/iands/Marketstats/gen_stats.htm (14 November 2000).
194 APRA Selected Statistics on the General Insurance Industry — Year Ending December 1999 APRA 2000, table 6.
195 Insurers and legal practitioners Consultation Sydney 15 May 2000.
196 Insurers and brokers Consultation Sydney 27 March 2000. A captive insurer is a company within a group of related companies performing the function of insurer to that group: APRA Selected Statistics on the General Insurance Industry — Year Ending December 1998 APRA 1999, 49.
197 Lloyd’s of London Global Results 1998 Lloyd’s of London 1998, 12.
198 CEFOR ‘Marine Underwriters on their Way to the Wizard of Oz?’ News release CEFOR 11 November 1998 http://www.cefor.no/nyheter/nyheter_index.htm (17 February 2000).
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report, CEFOR attributed these losses to the positive drive by the shipping industry to improve safety and reduce claims, which had been overcompensated for by insurers in reducing the premiums charged.200 The predicted losses were reported as a reality in 2000 for the Norwegian hull markets with projected global industry losses of US$3 billion reported.201 In its 1999 annual report CEFOR attributed losses in 1998 to an overall increase in claims frequency compounded by a number of large claims. However, it also noted that the average cost of claims decreased.202 CEFOR predicted that premiums would rise for some accounts coming up for renewal in 2001 and, on average, marine hull and machinery insurance would not be profitable in the near future.203
6.17 The world fleet is expanding and has steadily increased from 423 million gt in 1990 to 532 million gt in 1998.204 Global losses have also been declining.205 In the competitive Australian market the response to this has been to push premiums to a level below profitability206 and this is the experience in other countries, including the American and London markets.207
6.18 The IUMI figures show that, in Australia, premium revenues increased from 1996 to 1997 but fell dramatically in 1998 before settling.208 This fall was much greater than that experienced by the world market generally. It is not clear whether this fall in premiums is a result of world market conditions, is due to a real
contraction in the Australian market or is a function of changes in data collection or
200 CEFOR Annual report 1998 CEFOR Oslo 1998, 13 http://www.storebrand.no (28 March 2000). 201 CEFOR ‘Global Marine Insurance Markets Loses US$3 billion in 1999’ News release CEFOR 30 March
2000 http://www.cefor.no (16 June 2000).
202 CEFOR Annual report 1999 CEFOR Oslo 1999, 21 http://www.cefor.no/news/pdf/cefor1999.pdf (30 November 2000).
203 Ibid.
204 For ships over 100 gt: The world fleet 1990–98 by ship type, International Underwriters Association (IUA) Marine and Casualty Statistics IUMI Conference Berlin 1999.
205 Figures from the IUA and IUMI show that global losses have been declining: 0.56% of the tonnage afloat for vessels over 500 gt was totally lost in 1979, steadily declining to 0.2% in 1988. The figure has remained low, down to 0.16% in 1998: World loss ratios 1977-1989, IUA Hull Casualty Statistics IUMI Conference London 1990; Total losses in proportion to shipping afloat, IUA Marine and Casualty Statistics IUMI Conference Berlin 1999.
206 Insurers and brokers Consultation Sydney 27 March 2000.
207 CEFOR ‘Marine Underwriters on their Way to the Wizard of Oz?’ News release CEFOR 11 November 1998 http://www.cefor.no/nyheter/nyheter_index.htm (17 February 2000), although Norway claims that its losses are primarily due to an increase in claims, as well as insufficient premium revenue. Germany has also recorded a decline in premium revenues and a decline in claims: H Fromme ‘German marine insurers suffer’ Lloyd’s List 26 June 2000.
208 Australian hull premiums: 1996 US$88 million; 1997 US$92 million; 1998 US$48 million; 1999 US$46.8 million. Australian cargo premiums: 1996 US$158 million; 1997 US$171 million; 1998 US$85 million; 1999 US$ 93 million. Global premiums also fell, but not as dramatically: Hull: 1996 US$4 375 million; 1997 US$3 581 million; 1998 US$3 072 million; 1999 US$2 692 million; cargo: 1996 US$8 205 million; 1997 US$7 746 million; 1998 US$7 346 million; 1999 US$6 520 million: International Union of Marine Insurance Report on Marine Insurance Premiums 1997 IUMI and CEFOR http://www.cefor.no (16 June 2000) and International Union of Marine Insurance Report on Marine Insurance Premiums 1998 and 1999 IUMI and CEFOR http://www.cefor.no (12 October 2000).
An international market 81 interpretation by IUMI. The Commission has been unable to obtain relevant
statistics in relation to the level of marine insurance claims that might clarify the state of the market.
6.19 Overall, the available statistics are not particularly instructive. The bases of the figures collected by IUMI and APRA are unknown; they apparently aggregate different market sectors, for example. The lack of information explaining the assumptions and method behind these figures makes it impossible to assess, for example, whether or not any part of the fall in premium revenue from 1998 to 1999 is attributable to the shift of pleasure craft insurance from the MIA to the ICA and, if so, to what extent.
6.20 Although the Commission has been told anecdotally that premiums rose and then fell after the introduction of the ICA on 1 January 1986, there are no statistics specifically monitoring the effect of the ICA on premium rates and revenue during that period. The following table shows statistics collected by the Insurance and Superannuation Commission209 of annual premium revenue and payouts in general insurance. There appears to have been a steady increase of both premium revenue and claims expense, with no dramatic change around 1986.
6.21 However, nothing in the information available to the Commission suggests that any fluctuations related to the introduction of the ICA or the amendments relating to pleasure craft insurance had any significant or lasting impact on the Australian non-marine insurance market.
Table 3. Premium revenue and claims expense for general insurance 1982-1988210 0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000 3,000,000 3,500,000 4,000,000 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Premium revenue ($’000) Claims expense ($’000)
209 APRA took over from the Insurance and Superannuation Commission on 1 July 1998.
210 Insurance and Superannuation Commission Selected Statistics on the General Insurance Industry — Years Ending 31 December 1982–1988 AGPS Canberra, tables 1.6, 1.8. These statistics cover: fire, house owners and householders, contractors, motor vehicle, public liability, other non-marine general insurance.
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