From time to time there has been some confusion as to who is issuing exclusion clauses on electromagnetic radiation risks- i.e. Lloyd’s of London themselves or their Syndicate members.
While Lloyd’s, often called Lloyd’s of London, do indeed have an Emerging Risks Team and this risk is referred to in their documents, and whilst there do appear to be exclusion clauses in evidence elsewhere, we wanted to establish the correct facts.
We have therefore sought clarification from Lloyd’s and have been informed that Lloyd’s is not a single insurance company but the service provider to an insurance market. As underwriters in the different syndicates at Lloyd’s operate as independent businesses and accept risk for their own account, it is for the underwriters to decide the terms to be included in the individual policy wordings that they issue to policy holders. The role of Lloyd’s in this is to oversee the operation of the market, but it does not itself underwrite insurance policies and it does not become involved in the underwriting of individual insurance policies by market participants. It is therefore for the underwriters through their managing agents to agree the terms of policies in accordance with their own commercial underwriting criteria and subject to any locally applicable laws. Insurance business is placed AT Lloyd’s not WITH Lloyd’s – an important distinction http://www.lloyds.com/lloyds/about-us/what-is-lloyds . Put simply, all references to “Lloyd’s (of London)” are generic and descriptive of a market that is home to 96 syndicates, which offer a concentration of specialist underwriting expertise.