Non-life underwriting profit at Lloyd’s soars

Underwriting profits among non-life syndicates at Lloyd’s improved in 2023 following a fall in gross claims incurred, Insurance Datalab has revealed.

The market intelligence firm’s latest analysis, published today (14 October 2024), showed the aggregate underwriting result jumped from £1.6bn in 2022 to £2.8bn last year, an 81% rise.

The improved performance was driven by a 25% fall in gross claims incurred to £14.4bn, down from £19.2bn in 2022.

That was partially offset by a 13% increase in operating expenses to £10bn, compared to £8.8bn two years ago.

Meanwhile, gross written premium (GWP) rose by 6.8% to £34.1bn. It came after 28.1% and 12.4% increases in 2022 and 2021 respectively. 

Insurance DataLab co-founder Dan King said: “It’s fantastic to see such a big improvement in underwriting results across the non-life Lloyd’s market.”

Property at the top

Property insurance reclaimed its title as the most profitable business line at Lloyd’s, with a 21% increase in GWP to £13.1bn.

That means property insurance has now climbed above third-party liability insurance as the market’s biggest line, with property syndicates reporting an aggregate underwriting profit of £1.6bn.

To compare, third party liability insurance achieved an underwriting result of £578.1m in 2023 and £11.5bn in GWP – down from £12.3bn GWP a year earlier.

In addition to seeing premiums rise, property syndicates also benefited from a 33% fall in gross claims incurred.

Overall, each business line in the Lloyd’s market reported an aggregate underwriting profit for the second consecutive year, primarily driven by a fall in claims costs across all except motor.

Gross claims incurred in motor rose by 38% to £475.9m.

King said that although underwriting profits at Lloyd’s have improved, “rising expenses will be of concern, with current levels considerably higher than those reported between 2018 and 2021 after a 20% jump in costs in 2022”.