Lloyd’s of London Policies in Florida and New Jersey: How They Work and How to Handle a Claim

By Homeland Public Adjusters
Licensed public adjusters serving Florida & New Jersey

A storm-damaged commercial building with a fallen tree, the kind of property often insured in the surplus lines market

Short answer: Lloyd’s is not an insurance company. It is a marketplace in London where syndicates, backed by members’ capital, take on insurance risks. In Florida and New Jersey, Lloyd’s underwriters write as surplus lines (non-admitted) insurers: the state confirms they are eligible, but it does not approve their policy forms or rates, and in Florida a Lloyd’s policy is not protected by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA). At claim time, the party you report to is usually not “Lloyd’s” at all, but the claims administrator named on your declarations page.

What Lloyd’s actually is

Lloyd’s describes its market in a few parts:

• Members provide the capital: major insurance groups, listed companies, individuals and limited partnerships.
• Syndicates are formed by one or more members joining together to provide capital and accept insurance risks. Each member’s liability is several, not joint: a member answers for its own share, not for other members’ losses.
• Managing agents are companies that manage one or more syndicates on behalf of the members.
• Brokers bring risks from policyholders to the underwriters.
• Coverholders are third parties a managing agent authorizes to accept risks and issue insurance documents on behalf of a syndicate. A US property policy can be written this way, through a coverholder in the US rather than in London.
• The Corporation of Lloyd’s oversees the market.

At December 31, 2025, the market had 57 managing agents, 103 syndicates, 401 registered brokers and 3,015 approved coverholders. Lloyd’s reported 2025 gross written premium of £57.9 billion.

A short history

• By 1688: Edward Lloyd’s coffee house on Tower Street is firmly established in the City of London, the start of the Lloyd’s market.
• 1871: the first Lloyd’s Act incorporates the Society of Lloyd’s.
• 1906: after the San Francisco earthquake, underwriter Cuthbert Heath tells his agent to “pay all of our policyholders in full, irrespective of the terms of their policies.”
• 1911: a new Lloyd’s Act allows Lloyd’s to write non-marine insurance.
• 1923: a Central Fund is created as a last resort after one underwriter’s failure.
• 1986: the Lime Street building designed by Richard Rogers opens.
• From 1987: individual members, the “Names”, face losses of about £8 billion over five years, leading to a market overhaul; corporate members are admitted from 1994.
• 1996: Equitas is set up to reinsure and run off members’ 1992 and prior non-life liabilities; Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity takes it on in a deal signed in 2006.

The chain of security behind a Lloyd’s policy

Lloyd’s describes three links that stand behind claims: (1) syndicate assets, the premiums held in trust by the managing agents as the first resource for paying claims; (2) Funds at Lloyd’s, each member’s capital held in trust by the Corporation for policyholders; and (3) central assets, including the Central Fund (£3.2 billion at December 31, 2025), available at the discretion of the Council of Lloyd’s for valid claims members cannot meet. In the US, Lloyd’s also keeps trust funds, including a US situs surplus lines trust fund held as security for US policyholders.

Lloyd’s in the United States

Lloyd’s underwriters are approved surplus lines insurers in every US state and territory, and Lloyd’s syndicates wrote 16% of US surplus lines premium in 2024, according to the NAIC. Lloyd’s gave up the admitted licenses it once held in Illinois, Kentucky and the US Virgin Islands, so its US direct business is surplus lines. Its US office is Lloyd’s America, Inc., at 280 Park Avenue in New York.

Lloyd’s policies in Florida

Florida’s Surplus Lines Law (§§626.913–626.937, Florida Statutes) governs how a Lloyd’s policy is placed and what it must say. What matters to a policyholder:

• The disclosure you sign. §626.916 requires you to acknowledge: “You are agreeing to place coverage in the surplus lines market. Coverage may be available in the admitted market. Persons insured by surplus lines carriers are not protected under the Florida Insurance Guaranty Act with respect to any right of recovery for the obligation of an insolvent unlicensed insurer. Additionally, surplus lines insurers’ policy rates and forms are not approved by any Florida regulatory agency.”
• The stamp on the policy. §626.924 requires the policy to say it is issued under the Florida Surplus Lines Law, that insureds do not have the protection of the Florida Insurance Guaranty Act, and, in 14-point bold, that “SURPLUS LINES INSURERS’ POLICY RATES AND FORMS ARE NOT APPROVED BY ANY FLORIDA REGULATORY AGENCY.”
• No FIGA. Surplus lines insurance is excluded from FIGA (§631.52).
• What eligibility means. Under §626.918, an eligible surplus lines insurer’s listing “shall indicate only that the insurer appears to be sound financially.”
• Suing a surplus lines insurer. Under §626.937, an unauthorized insurer that issues a surplus lines policy in Florida is deemed to have appointed Florida’s Chief Financial Officer as its agent for service of process.
• Cancellation and nonrenewal. §626.9201 requires 45 days’ notice on property policies (10 days for nonpayment of premium).
• Since July 1, 2025, Florida no longer requires agents to collect declinations from admitted insurers before placing coverage in the surplus lines market (CS/HB 1549).

Lloyd’s policies in New Jersey

“Underwriters at Lloyd’s London” is on the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance’s list of active surplus lines insurers (September 16, 2026). New Jersey’s required notice tells the policyholder that the policy “is not subject to the filing or approval requirements” of the Department, “may contain conditions, limitations, exclusions and different terms” than an admitted policy, and is not covered by the New Jersey Insurance Guaranty Fund. Unlike Florida, New Jersey has a Surplus Lines Insurance Guaranty Fund: it covers only medical malpractice and property insurance on owner-occupied dwellings of fewer than four units, and the 2002 law that set its scope caps it at $300,000 per occurrence. Every Lloyd’s policy carries a Unique Market Reference (UMR) number on the declarations page or binder.

How a Lloyd’s claim actually works

• The party that handles the claim is named on your declarations page. It is usually a coverholder or a third-party claims administrator, not Lloyd’s in London; Lloyd’s says it cannot answer questions about individual policies. We identify that party from your policy.
• Expect “Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London” as the insurer, often with a schedule of syndicates and the share each one takes. Each syndicate is liable only for its own share.
• Notice goes in writing to the named claims party, with proof. Under the Lloyd’s market’s current service of suit clauses, Lloyd’s itself does not accept notice of claims. Call us first and we give that notice for you.
• If you need to complain, the Lloyd’s US complaints process asks the managing agent (or the coverholder or administrator acting for it) to acknowledge within three business days where possible and give a final response within eight weeks; the final letter must tell you that you may be able to refer the complaint to your state insurance department.
• If you need to sue, the policy’s service of suit clause and, in Florida, §626.937 say how. Many Lloyd’s property policies also have an appraisal clause for disputes over the amount of the loss; read yours.

Where Lloyd’s claims get contested

Because surplus lines forms are not approved by the state, two Lloyd’s policies on similar buildings can read very differently: deductibles, exclusions, roof and water provisions, and conditions like the anti-public adjuster endorsements now under investigation in Florida (see our report). The first step on any Lloyd’s claim is reading your own wording, not assuming it matches a standard homeowners or commercial form. In Florida, surplus lines coverage is concentrated where the standard market is thin: commercial property was the largest surplus lines line in 2025 ($6.2 billion of premium), followed by homeowners (HO-3, $692.3 million), and Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward were the top counties.

How Homeland helps with a Lloyd’s claim

We read the wording first, identify who actually handles the claim, document the loss, prepare the estimate and handle the claim with the coverholder or administrator, in English or Spanish, for homes, condominium associations and commercial buildings in Florida and New Jersey. Florida (305) 783-3777 · New Jersey (732) 517-3777.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Lloyd's, The Lloyd's market; Lloyd's, Capital structure (chain of security); Lloyd's, History: Lloyd's buildings; Lloyd's, History: sweeping change, new standards; Lloyd's, History: new frontiers and greater risk; Equitas; Lloyd's, USA; NAIC, Surplus lines; Lloyd's, US trust deeds; Florida Surplus Lines Service Office, 2025 Annual Report; Florida Statutes §626.916; §626.924; §626.937; §626.918; §626.9201; §631.52; Florida House, CS/HB 1549 (2025) analysis; NJ DOBI, Active Surplus Lines insurers (Sept. 16, 2026); NJ DOBI, surplus lines policy notice; New Jersey Surplus Lines Insurance Guaranty Fund; P.L.2002, c.30; LMA, Service of Suit clauses guidance note (2025); Lloyd's, Hurricane information for policyholders; Lloyd's, US complaints handling.

This guide is general information for policyholders, current as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Lloyd’s policy wordings vary by syndicate and coverholder; your own declarations page and policy control.

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