Lloyd’s insurers fear impact from Brexit

Insurers today dealt a blow to Brexiteers with more than two-thirds of those working in the industry feeling it would be “bad for business” if the UK left the European Union.

Almost 70% of insurance workers say a vote to leave the EU in June’s referendum would “hurt” or “severely damage” 300-year-old Lloyd’s, led by chief executive Inga Beale.

Only 6.2% think a departure would benefit the £60 billion market, according to research from City consultancy Haggie Partners.

This echoes the view voiced by London Stock Exchange boss Xavier Rolet, who has made some of the most foreboding comments that have been expressed by a FTSE 100 chief on the subject. “This would be a geopolitical event that would reverberate way beyond the European Union,” he said. “I think it would be devastating to the economy of the United Kingdom, and would not be good for anyone with their headquarters in the European Union,” the Frenchman, who will leave the LSE after it merges with Germany’s Deutsche Börse, added.

Russia would also stand to gain and it would prompt China to reassess the value of its relationship with the UK and Europe, Rolet predicted, leaving the US to put “Humpty Dumpty back together again”.

“You’re the superpower and you cannot have an implosion of the EU. That is bad for the US.”

The Haggie Partners survey also revealed that a majority of insurance practitioners want Lloyd’s chairman John Nelson, who will step down next year and has already expressed strong support for Britain to remain in the EU, to be replaced by an industry insider.