As the remaining Lloyd’s Names dig into their pockets even deeper, they are also contemplating their future. Lloyd’s chairman Sax Riley announced last month that the market will vote later this year on a proposal to dump the unlimited liability Names. It also wants to introduce annual accounts to replace the 314-year-old system of reporting three years in arrears. That made sense when a ship’s voyage could take that long, but it’s cumbersome and irritating to the institutional investors who now dominate at Lloyd’s.

The Names are gearing up for a fight, and on the face of it at least they will win. While the Council of Lloyd’s wants to bring in the reforms in 2003, it must still bring things to a vote – and the Names have the same right to vote as an institutional investor or an underwriting syndicate: one vote each. 

Australian Association of Lloyd’s Members Deputy Chairman Patrick Moore said the market has gone “stark staring mad”. Maybe, but the vote will still come after what CEO Nick Prettejohn described as a very severe down-cycle. “Nevertheless, we should have done better,” he said.