EXPERT FEES PAYMENT SERVICE TO BE LAUNCHED BY LPSO/LPC

Lloyd’s has announced that a new service to handle the collection of fees for claims experts on behalf of underwriters will be launched in February. The Expert Fees Service (EFS) will replace the Lloyd’s Direct Fee Scheme, which has been in operation since 1986. It will be run by the Lloyd’s Policy Signing Office (LPSO) and the London Processing Centre (LPC). EFS will collect fees from Lloyd’s, the International Underwriting Association and non-bureaux underwriters and pass them on to the provider of the professional or expert service — a role that has traditionally been performed by brokers. Lloyd’s said that “secure, established accounting systems will offer a faster and more streamlined fee collection service with settlement directly into the expert’s own bank account, anywhere in the world”. There will be no charge to insurers for the service, except the standard LPSO/LPC claim-processing charge. The costs of processing will be recouped through a charge to the expert for each fee bill handled by the EFS. The Lloyd’s Direct Scheme processes more than 6,000 fees a year and has a database of more than 200 experts from over 20 countries.