Lloyd's of London said today that it had 'substantial involvement' in the insurance of the World Trade Center and two airlines whose planes were hijacked and used in the US attacks.
Lloyds said in a statement that 'as one of the world's major insurers it has a substantial involvement in the insurance of United Airlines and American Airlines, and the World Trade Centre complex.'
But it added: 'However, because of the evolving nature of the situation and the numerous variables, Lloyds considers it unwise to attempt to quantify its own exposure at this time.'
Lloyd's chairman Sax Riley commented: 'The tragic events in the US this week have generated the most complex set of insurance liabilities and interdependencies the industry has ever seen. 'The situation is not static. Quantifying our involvement in terms of an exact total number is meaningless at this stage.'
The Lloyd's insurance market includes 108 underwriting syndicates and accounts for about 5% of world reinsurance.
Earlier, Lloyd's underwriter Hiscox said that losses arising from the attacks in the US on Tuesday would 'clearly have a material impact on this year's profitability'. It said its current knowledge indicated that claims would be within its expected loss from a very large natural catastrophe in which event it will have sufficient funds to cover payments as they come.
French insurance giant Axa said the attacks in the US could cost the company up to $400m this year.
Axa also reported first-half net profits of 1.22 billion euros today, up 12.4% on the same period last year, but short of analysts' forecasts. The company said it had posted first-half sales of 38.97 billion euros, increasing 4% on the same period last year.
