LLOYD’S LETS HARDY DROP QUOTA-SHARE CAPACITY

Lloyd’s insurer Hardy Underwriting has received agreement that it can dispense with the qualifying quota share (QQS) capacity it secured last year because it has written less business than expected. Hardy formed a parallel syndicate to accept additional business underwritten in 2002 by syndicate 382, which writes a large aviation account. Syndicate 382 had a capacity of £54m for the year, increased to £70m through the quota-share agreement. Hardy expected the syndicate to write more business, particularly for the airline renewals in the last quarter of the year, but syndicate 382 ultimately wrote less than anticipated in the face of strong competition. Lloyd’s has allowed Hardy to dispense with the QQS and freed the syndicate to overwrite by a small amount for 2002 without penalty.