Ascot Underwriting pulled out of Kinnect months before the £70m system was shut down, the Lloyd's managing agent has revealed.

The insurer gave notice of its intention to stop using the system last year.

Ascot business development manager Torquil McLusky said last week's decision to pull the plug on the connectivity platform was the right one, adding: "It has been a huge amount of money that quite frankly has been wasted."

McLusky said it was now time for the market to "move on" and develop more peer-to-peer systems "smaller in scope and ambition".

This is a view shared by Hiscox chief executive Bronek Masojada. He said: "It is now up to the managing agents to figure out how they are going to crack this problem.

"There are various talks going on between agents and brokers on how this should happen. The time has come for some individual initiatives."

A Lloyd's spokeswoman said the decision to close the electronic platform was not in reaction to the actions of any one business ,but it was in response to the lack of market-wide appetite for a centrally built electronic hub.

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