New survey will work out extent of London market companies’ global programmes placements

Dave Matcham IUA

The International Underwriting Association has launched a new survey to assess how the London Market is servicing international business.

The IUA is seeking to assess the exact extent of global programmes placements, which are increasingly raising compliance questions, in the company market.

Last year’s London Company Market Statistics Report revealed that London companies wrote £17.4bn worth of premium in 2013 with a further £6.8bn overseen in the UK capital but written elsewhere. These figures combined give an overall premium total of £24.3bn for the company market.

The new survey, which will also attempt to establish the number of international branches controlled by operations in London and how many cover holders they contract with, forms part of this year’s statistics report.

Dave Matcham, chief executive of the IUA, said: “Over the past 12 months I have noticed a growing number of discussions taking place within the IUA’s underwriting committees about issues surrounding global programmes. There is clearly a demand from members for greater support in meeting the technical and compliance challenges posed by these often very complex agreements.

“Previous IUA research has shown a growth in the amount of premium written in local markets, but overseen by London offices. We are attempting to explore this trend further and quantify the company market’s international networks so that we can better plan IUA support services.”

The 2015 statistics report will be published in October.