TT Club Income Hit by Record Catastrophic Claims

The TT Club, a mutual insurer of transport and logistics risk, reported a 90.6 percent drop in net income on Monday to $1.2 million last year from $12.8 million in 2010 (which included income from prior-year releases) as it was hit by a record number of catastrophic claims.

The record claims offset the TT Club’s healthy 8.5 percent increase in premium income as its members filed claims for damages caused by natural disasters, including the Japanese tsunami; a second earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand; and flooding in Australia and Thailand, as well as normal maritime losses such as the grounding of the container ship Rena on a reef off the Port of Tauranga in New Zealand.

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Premium income rose to $181.7 million in 2011 from $167.4 million the year before, and the Club’s combined ratio of 98.6 percent remained under100 percent, meaning that claims payments and expenses were more than offset by premium income, “which is a very important and healthy position to be in with market conditions as they are,” said TT Club Chairman Knud Pontoppidan.

With a $1.2 million surplus of income over claims, the Club maintained a stable financial platform, good underwriting results and its "A minus" rating from A. M. Best Company. The Club’s total surplus and reserves reached a record level of $145.4 million.

Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.