The Lloyd's Market Association (LMA) has been accused of wasting its time and money on developing a single source of model wordings for the London market.

Concerns have been raised by service provider Xchanging, about an LMA-led project to develop an underwriter owned wordings repository.

The company said it was "bemused" at the LMA's decision to pursue a project, which "at first sight seems very similar" to one that it already provides.

Martin Elton, managing director of production at Xchanging, said: "The LMA is entitled to develop its own capability.

"But I would argue that there is a unique feature that has already been developed in the market, making such an LMA development, if not unnecessary, then open to questions about the return on investment."

But, Simon Sperryn, chief executive at the LMA, said: "The LMA sees the wordings repository as fulfilling different needs to current offerings. The LMA repository will be owned by Lloyd's underwriters, run on a not-for-profit basis and will have its contents actively managed according to a strict governance structure and process."

Meanwhile, Xchanging is in discussions with a number of underwriters and a "major" broker about how it can support an LMA-led pilot, which will change the way insurance contracts are checked and placed at Lloyd's.