UK Edition
Lloyd's of London looks to calm insurance bosses as Irma surges towards Florida
The boss of Lloyd’s of London has sought to calm insurers’ nerves over the impact Hurricane Irma will have on the sector by writing to chief executives just as the catastrophic storm surges through Florida.
The sector, which is still counting the costs of Hurricane Harvey, is expected to pick up a tab of between £100bn and £150bn, analysts warned at the weekend.
As the hurricane edged closer towards Florida and fears built among insurers, chief executive Inga Beale fired off an email to insurance bosses reassuring them that Lloyd’s was analysing the information, had made progress with Hurricane Harvey payments and was available to answer questions, sources said.
It was claimed some firms could benefit from what is being viewed as a potentially “market turning event”, suggesting the impact of Irma could scare away new entrants and allow insurers to drive up premiums.
However, Panmure Gordon analyst Barrie Cornes said it would take “several hundred billion dollar losses to take enough capacity out of the insurance system to see premium rates go up – in reality probably several Irmas”.
Spokesmen for Lloyd’s insurers Beazley, Lancashire and Hiscox, forecast to lose at least £100m each on Hurricane Harvey, said it was too early to comment on the impact Irma might have.