Lawsuits at Lloyd's
THIS is the popular idea of the moment. Already a dentist has successfully sued his Lloyd's agent for exposing him to unwant- ed risks. This week 3,062 members of Lloyd's have opened their case against the Gooda Walker agency and against 71 dif- ferent agents who put them on to its ill- fated syndicates. Some agents and agencies are more worth suing than others. (Gooda Walker has been in liquidation for some time.) If they lose in the courts, they must be expected to fall back on their own insur- ance. Some will be better insured than oth- ers. Much of this insurance has been placed at Lloyd's. With its reinsurers outside the market, the buck may at last stop. By that time my new hole will be filling up nicely. All that the members can hope from it is to win damages from Lloyd's professionals who let them down. No court — not even an American court — has yet found that the members of Lloyd's are not liable for their commitments. They went into the insurance business on their own account and without limit. For many of them, it has proved disastrous. Disasters, though, are what insurance is about.
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