Swiss Re Corporate Solutions is to become the latest carrier to cease writing marine hull business in London, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
It will continue to be active in the class and business previously conducted in London will now be written through the Genoa office, according to sources.
Hull has been a challenging class of business in recent years, and yesterday it emerged that Navigators are pulling back from the line in London.
Swiss Re is in the process of trimming its Corporate Solutions division after the segment reported a $403mn loss in the first half of the year.
It intends to slash gross written premiums by $900mn, while restructuring the business and increasing the reinsurance it buys.
Earlier in the week this publication revealed that Corporate Solutions is exiting the marine cargo market.
The carrier is also withdrawing from the global space and US medical malpractice markets, while significantly curtailing its general aviation business.
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions said: “Swiss Re Corporate Solutions is consolidating its marine hull operations in Genoa to increase operational efficiency and will continue to offer seamless service to our customers.”
Several carriers have withdrawn from hull in recent years due to the profitability challenges, but there were some indications in Q2 results that the pricing environment is improving.
Hiscox indicated in its second-quarter results that it had received healthy rate rises in hull driven by recent losses and Decile 10 measures in Lloyd’s.