Gard has announced there will be no General Increase for both P&I and FD&D entries at 20th February 2019. There will be no change in deductibles for either class.

The management has pointed to a continued, stable claims environment and an improvement in Gard’s back year claims as the reasons behind its decision, notwithstanding its free reserves have also risen to USD1,276m and the current year’s combined ratio stands at 78%.

Gard has also reduced its release calls substantially, in line with the industry trend, and announced that security through deposits or bank guarantees will no longer be required for those members who transfer their ships out of the club. The new Release Calls (as shown below) are only required for members who want to release themselves of liability to the club upon exit.

For the 2016 policy year: 2.5%

For the 2017 policy year: 5.0%

For the 2018 policy year: 7.5%

For the 2019 policy year: 7.5%

Furthermore, Gard has decided to move away from the Advance / Deferred Call structure and gone with the more widespread ETC (Estimated Total Premium) with the old “Deferred Call” now being called a “Last Instalment” which is set at 20% of the ETC.

All information can be found in their Circular.