Lloyd’s pandemic losses worse than predicted, says chairman Carnegie-Brown

Lloyd’s of London’s Covid-19 pandemic losses will likely be greater than the $107bn previously predicted, according to chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown.

Speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, Carnegie-Brown said the losses will be more aligned with those incurred in 2017 from the impact of three Atlantic hurricanes - $144bn.

“Unlike many events, a pandemic is everywhere at the same time,” Carnegie-Brown said, adding that the outbreak had extended longer than expected,” he told Reuters.

Carnegie-Brown - who said firms were facing claims from 16 different business lines - added that the government was yet to engage with Lloyd’s proposed plan to set up a ‘black swan’ reinsurance scheme.

“The challenge for governments of course is that they are very short-term focused… (it is) very difficult for them to lift their heads above the parapet and think about the future,” Carnegie-Brown said.

In March, Lloyd’s shut its underwriting room in response to the coronavirus pandemic; this was the first closure of physical trading in the commercial insurance market’s 330-year history.