London Club Confirms General Increase

The London Club has announced a general increase of 15 per cent in its advance call for the 2004/2005 policy year. Meanwhile, the Club has also confirmed that supplementary calls for all open underwriting years remain unchanged. The move to raise rates follows on from an increase in free reserves to USD 82.7m at the end of the 2002/2003 financial year. Paul Hinton, Chief Executive of the Club's managers, A Bilbrorough & Co, emphasised that the increase is a precautionary measure to ensure the continued financial security of the Club. "Despite the modest increase in the Club's reserves which has been achieved, it is important to reduce the risk of erosion in the future," he said. "Various claims forecasts were considered, and together with the uncertainty of future investment returns, this has resulted in the committee authorising a general increase in the advance call." Any increase in the cost of the Club's share of the International Group's excess loss reinsurance programme, which has not yet been determined, will also apply. The advance calls will now be paid in two instalments. The advance supplementary call, payable in October, will now be known as the "deferred call". This more clearly shows that the call is a part of the estimated total call, as budgeted at the beginning of the year.