Lloyd’s to close underwriting room again

Insurance and reinsurance marketplace Lloyd’s of London has announced that its underwriting room will be closed once again following the introduction of new lockdown measures in the UK this week.

The UK Government re-introduced lockdown restrictions yesterday in a bid to control the more infectious COVID-19 variant that has spread in recent weeks. New guidance includes working from home except where it is absolutely necessary, meaning most staff will be unable to access the Lloyd’s building over the coming weeks.

As such, Lloyd’s has taken the decision to close its underwriting room temporarily for a second time, although it stated that the market will remain open during these “challenging times.” Lloyd’s reopened its underwriting room in September following several months of lockdown measures across the UK in response to the pandemic.

Over summer, the marketplace also introduced a ‘virtual underwriting room’ to help connect brokers and underwriters online. But Lloyd’s had to limit access to the underwriting room to just one day a week in November when new lockdown measures were introduced.

It reopened fully in December for a brief period before once again limiting access to one day per week after London was placed into the higher risk tier 4 COVID category. “Following yesterday’s decision by the government to place England (and the UK) in a second national lockdown, and the clear guidance to work from home, we will be closing the Underwriting Room for a second time,” the latest statement from Lloyd’s read.

“Our market remains open and continues to show strength and resilience in these challenging times. Thank you to everyone for all of your hard work to support this.”

Source: Reinsurance News

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