Lloyd's exposure to Hurricane Dennis is expected to be "limited" and lower than the losses caused by Hurricane Ivan, a Lloyd's spokeswoman confirmed.

The spokeswoman said: "Although Dennis made landfall in the same region as Hurricane Ivan, losses are expected to be much lower with exposure mainly limited to property damage and business interruption."

Market sources said initial estimates indicated that Lloyd's exposure would not exceed £100m.

The hurricane hit the Florida Panhandle on Sunday, in the same general area as Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which caused about $7bn (£3.9bn) in insured property damage.

Last year, Lloyd's exposure to overall hurricane activity was £1.3bn.

Cooper Gay chief executive Toby Esser said: "Hurricane Dennis is a wake-up call to the industry. Many insurers were slashing rates even in Florida, but this will bring rates back to a more stable position."

Catastrophe modelling firms predicted insured losses from Hurricane Dennis could be as much as $5bn. Risk Management Solutions estimated insured losses at between $1bn and $5bn. Boston-based AIR Worldwide put the figure lower at between $1bn and $2.5bn in insured property losses.