Lloyd’s to drop US admitted insurer licenses

Lloyd’s of London will relinquish its admitted insurance licenses in Kentucky, Illinois and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the insurance market announced Friday.

Going forward, Lloyd’s will concentrate on excess and surplus lines insurance and reinsurance in the U.S. and will stop accepting renewal business on an admitted basis on July 1, 2021, the market said in a bulletin.

The three U.S. territories, where it has held admitted licenses for decades, account for $215 million or 1% of Lloyd’s annual U.S. premium income, the bulletin said.

“This decision was not related to the local markets or the business we write under the licenses, rather it was a recognition that E&S business is a better fit for our underwriters,” the bulletin said.

Lloyd’s operates as a surplus lines insurer in all 50 U.S. states, with Kentucky in 2014 becoming the last state to allow the market to write business on a nonadmitted basis.