When you think about the insurance market in London, one name tends to come to mind—Lloyd’s of London. How something that started off as a coffee shop became such a global institution is a tale that needs a book to be told properly, but one of the main reasons was that Lloyd’s embraced innovation.
Executive Summary
Is the London market sleepwalking to disaster? Those are the stark terms that one market participant, Willis's Alistair Rivers, used as he joined the call for the market to be more innovative and responsive to buyer requirements. While Rivers referred specifically to the energy insurance market, others highlighted cyber risks and intangibles like reputation, which the market must address or risk losing share around the world.Lloyd’s wrote the first car insurance policy, the first aviation insurance policy and the first satellite insurance policy. It set a major precedent after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 with Cuthbert Heath’s decision to pay all claims in full, irrespective of the terms of the policies of the clients. That cost Lloyd’s a great deal of money but also sealed its place in the insurance industry.
London’s insurance industry also benefitted to a great extent from the rise of Lloyd’s as it too embraced innovation.
