U.S. market continues to grow for Lloyd’s

In his first speech as new chairman of Lloyd’s Lord Peter Levene says that the U.S. remains the largest market for Lloyd’s of London. In 2002, the U.S. market for Lloyd’s grew 15%, to US$8.2 billion, now accounting for as much as 40% of the London market.Levene adds that Lloyd’s is now the biggest surplus lines market in the U.S.The new chairman also used the speech, to a meeting of insurance executives in New York, to tout the strong ties between the European and U.S. insurance industries. Using the September 11 terrorist attack losses as an example, he notes that European insurers carried the burden of the largest single loss in insurance history.”In the dark days that followed 9/11, the ability of many U.S. insurers to write terrorism and property cover almost collapsed. Not only were U.S. insurance businesses having to deal with their own personal shock. We were able to step in to fill the breach.”He notes that Lloyd’s has paid out more than US$2.8 billion in claims from the event, and expects the total loss figure to reach US$3.11 billion.Among the current factors shaping European-U.S. insurance relations are globalization, the rise of the European common market, and the growth of e-business, Levene says. He adds that the insurance business was one of the first to take a truly global view of the marketplace.He also credited U.S. standards as a basis for current reforms being undertaken by Lloyd’s. “While changes have taken place at the instigation of Lloyd’s itself, much of the impetus to reform has come from the need to maintain that relationship with the U.S. industry.”