With the rising number of Corona virus cases across the UK, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a new national lockdown—overriding the previous tier-based local lockdown system. The sudden lockdown has critically impacted by the insurance industry, like every other business.
Because of the lockdown, Lloyd’s of London has taken the decision to close its underwriting floor, as reported by Reuters. The move is in contrast to its action during the last national lockdown in November – which saw it keep the underwriting floor open for one day a week. Moreover, it is to keep up with the company’s action during the initial national lockdown in the last march—when the underwriting room was ultimately closed for close to six months.
In a recent statement issued on by the company, Johnson claimed that the UK had already vaccinated 1.3 million of its population and also they set out a goal to ramp up that vaccination effort – with the target bring to reach the over 80s, NHS and care staff, the over 70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable by mid-February. At that point, Johnson is set to review the national lockdown again, depending on the success of the vaccination programme. Furthermore, Lloyd’s of London has also stated that it is not likely to reopen the company’s floor before mid-February.