London:
The 330-year old Lloyd’s of London market will shut its underwriting floors on Friday for a day in a test of emergency protocols related to the coronavirus, Chief Executive John Neal said on Thursday.
This would be the first time in its history that Lloyd’s has shut its underwriting floors, where brokers and insurers agree deals face-to-face, Neal told a media call.
In a statement, Lloyd’s described the exercise as a ramping up of business continuity preparations and reassurance for the market, employees and customers in the event of an escalation of contingency measures due to COVID-19.
Lloyd’s, whose members insure specialist risks from ships to sculptures, will carry out a deep clean of the four floors that make up the physical insurance market while it is shut, Neal said.
The decision to shut the so-called “underwriting room”, which is used by nearly 50,000 employees in the Lloyd’s of London market, comes after the coronavirus epidemic was officially classed as a pandemic, with cases in Europe and the United States and government responses rising.
“Things have changed very significantly in the past week,” Neal said, adding that Lloyd’s wanted to “test in anger” how the market would cope with restrictions on gatherings.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair an emergency meeting on Thursday at which he is expected to approve moving to the “delay phase” of the coronavirus response that includes more stringent measures to counter the outbreak.
Neal said there were no confirmed coronavirus cases at the Lloyd’s of London Corporation and he had not been told of any cases at member firms.
Insurers can carry out underwriting business elsewhere while the market is shut, including through electronic placement.
Other contingency planning activities and coronavirus responses include:
On a single day during March, Lloyd’s will require all corporation employees to work from home.
On March 16, the market will test a working-from-home rota system, requiring one-third of the risk management team to work in the office, one-third to work off-site at a business continuity location, and one-third from home. This could be rolled out across other corporation teams if necessary.
The Corporation of Lloyd’s is putting a ban on any international travel until the first of May.