Lloyd's chairman Lord Levene today predicted surplus lines would play an increasingly important role in the US economy.
In a speech to the 2003 NAPSLO annual convention, Lord Levene outlined his view of the development of the surplus lines market over the next 20 years.
Growth of the surplus lines sector over the past 20 years had been disproportionate to the rest of the US insurance industry and economy, he said. According to Lord Levene, the sector has more than doubled as a percentage of the US commercial lines market between 1981 and 2001.
In response to these figures, Lord Levene said this growth could continue: "It means that surplus lines could account for over 15% of the US market in twenty years time, double what it is today."
He also predicted global insurance markets would become more interdependent, and national boundaries fade, as new technology was fully exploited.
