John Key visit to Lloyd's

On Friday 30th October the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt Hon John Key, visited Lloyd’s, the world’s specialist insurance market.

Welcomed by John Nelson, Chairman of Lloyd’s, the visit was a chance for the Prime Minister to tour the historic Lloyd’s Underwriting Room and meet with brokers and underwriters.

Lloyd’s has a long and proud history with New Zealand and provides insurance and reinsurance cover for some of the country’s greatest assets, including the Earthquake Commission.

Following the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, Lloyd’s has stood by New Zealand and Christchurch in supporting significant economic recovery though its reinsurance and insurance programmes. The economic losses from the earthquakes are estimated at around NZ$40 billion – with over half (59%) of this covered by insurance and reinsurance.

In a speech to welcome the Prime Minister, Nelson said: “The earthquakes that happened five years ago have deepened the relationship between Lloyd's and New Zealand. For the past five years we have worked very closely with the Government and with the Earthquake Commission. And if you look at the way that New Zealand has recovered and Christchurch is recovering, you would have to say this was extremely well managed by the New Zealand Government. I do strongly believe that Lloyd's played its part helping the New Zealand economy to recover in terms of the role it played in its reinsurance programmes.”

Speaking to assembled brokers and underwriters, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt Hon John Key, thanked Lloyd’s underwriters for supporting New Zealand after the Christchurch earthquake. He explained how the city is now actively going through a rebuilding phase, and that the government is working with insurers to ensure the city is able to fully recover.

John Nelson commented on his visit to Christchurch earlier this year, saying “You have to see it to realise the true impact of what actually happened. It was a devastating event. But the morale and the spirit of the people in that South Island has definitely made a huge difference in terms of turning it around. With that I just want to put on record that Lloyd’s continues to be a strong supporter of New Zealand. We aim to assist in improving the resilience of NZ to the potential catastrophes it naturally faces and we look forward to the relationship growing as time goes on.”

ENDS

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