KPMG survey reveals decrease in U.K. liability figures

LONDON—Total liabilities of the runoff market in the United Kingdom, as a percentage of the whole property/casualty market, fell in 2005.

Total liabilities were estimated at £38.2 billion ($72.03 billion) at the end of 2005, £200 million lower than in 2004, according to a survey of 500 companies conducted by KPMG L.L.P. But total liabilities as a percentage of the whole U.K. p/c market in 2005, at 19%, were substantially lower than previous years. Total liabilities as a percentage of the whole U.K. p/c market were 23% in 2004 and 25% in 2003.

The £38.2 billion total included approximately £7.5 billion of liabilities associated with open year syndicates at Lloyd's of London, an increase of £300 million at the end of 2004. Equitas, which managed the runoff of Lloyd's policies in 1992 and prior years, accounted for £4.4 billion of total liabilities.

Excluding Lloyd's, total liabilities of solvent companies was £15.9 billion, compared with £10.4 billion for insolvent companies in runoff.

Total liabilities of U.K. companies that had entered into a scheme of arrangement, were £144 million, an increase of 22% since 2004.

Net assets of shareholders' funds in U.K. p/c companies in runoff were £4.8 billion at the end of 2005, 20% higher than at the end of 2004.

KPMG classified insurers in runoff as those companies that have ceased to actively underwrite new business. The survey was commissioned by the London based Association of Runoff Companies