Lloyd’s of London to Report Heavy Losses

Lloyd's of London will post heavy full year losses this week on the back of record catastrophe claims from disasters, including the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

Source: London Telegraph | Published on March 26, 2012

The world's largest insurance market fell to a first half loss of £697m last August after its "costliest six months on record", which also included flooding in Australia and earthquakes in New Zealand.

Lloyd's full year loss will fall below £1bn, The Sunday Telegraph understands, despite total claims exceeding £10bn. Of this, catastrophe-related losses will outstrip the £3.4bn Lloyd's suffered in 2001 after the September 11 attacks in New York and £4.2bn in 2005 after hurricanes Katrina and Wilma.

Analysts say the results will show how well capitalised the market is with Lloyd's unlikely to have dipped into its central fund, which meets the cost of claims in the event of one of its underwriting syndicates being unable to meet its liabilities.

The results will be the first under new chairman, John Nelson. Last month, Lloyd's warned that last year's Thai floods are likely to cost it about $2.2bn (£1.4bn), making it the third-largest claim the market has faced after hurricane Katrina and the September 11 attacks.

The floods were the worst to hit Thailand for 50 years, killing more than 800 people. About 10,000 factories were forced to close, laying off more than 350,000 workers.