LONDON (Reuters) – The coronavirus pandemic pushed Lloyd’s of London to a 900 million pound ($1.24 billion) pre-tax loss in 2020, compared with a 2.5 billion pound profit in 2019, the commercial insurance market said on Wednesday.
The 330-year old market, home to around 100 syndicate members, expects to pay out 3.4 billion pounds in 2020 COVID-19 claims net of reinsurance, it said in a statement.
Lloyd’s CEO John Neal said 2020 had been “an extremely challenging year marked by a global health crisis of a scale never seen before”.
“The year was also marked by a high frequency of natural catastrophe claims and the UK’s formal exit from the EU, driving further losses and uncertainty,” he added.
Gross written premiums declined by 1.2% to 35.5 billion pounds in the specialist insurance market – which covers everything from oil rigs to footballers’ legs – after Lloyd’s scaled back some loss-making business lines last year.
But Lloyd’s said premium rates had risen 10.8% last year and rate rises had continued into 2021. Insurers typically increase rates after experiencing large losses.
($1 = 0.7284 pounds)
Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.
Be the first to comment