Lloyd's of London Sees no Big Q1 Losses After Spate of Natural Disasters in 2011

The Lloyd's of London insurance market has not been hit by any significant claims in the first quarter of the year after taking several recent knocks because of natural disasters, Reuters has reported.

In 2011 the Lloyd's market had its second worst year in its 324-year history after Japan's Tohuku earthquake and Thailand's devastating floods cost its insurers £516m.

It was the second worst year on record for the entire insurance industry in terms of natural disasters, according to Swiss reinsurer Re, costing them $116bn (£71.5bn).

Lloyd's, the world's oldest insurance market, reported that the excess of its central assets over solvency shortfalls - a measure of its financial health - rose to £3.2bn in the first quarter, an increase of £46m pounds on the previous quarter.

"Make no mistake, 2011 was a difficult year for the insurance industry," Lloyd's chief executive Richard Ward had said back in February.

"Given the scale of the claims, a loss is unsurprising."

He added it is reassuring that despite the loss the market's "financial strength has been maintained".

Lloyd's took its biggest loss of £3.11bn after the 9/11 terror attacks.