Lloyd's Names lose action against Treasury

The Commercial Court today delivered its judgment on the attempt by a group of Lloyd's Names to pursue a claim against the government for losses arising out of an alleged failure to implement a European Directive relating to insurance.

The action, which was brought by a group of over 1,000 Names, stated that the government had failed to adequately regulate the Lloyd's market, and as a result massive losses had been incurred by the Names.

In a lengthy judgment, Mr Justice Gordon ruled that that the DTI (which was responsible for insurance regulation until 1997) had not misled the Names nor lulled them into a false sense of security.

Furthermore, he said that the government was not in any way responsible for the Names' delay in bringing this action and that the government was not being unreasonable in denying liability for losses suffered by the Names.

A Treasury spokesperson said: "The government welcomes this judgment which upholds the arguments presented by the Government. The Government denied every element of the claims which were based on a misunderstanding of the terms of the EU Directive and the obligations of the Member States under Directives."