July and August is when the actuaries and accountants at Britannia P&I will start the number crunching ahead of an announcement on a potential general increase in the early autumn.
Britannia is traditionally one of the first to declare whether it will go ahead with a hike and is seen as setting the tone for the market.
A robust balance sheet and healthy underwriting profit at the protection and indemnity mutual would strongly suggest a continuation of the soft rates and a third consecutive year without an increase.
