![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1746689785988-e1746691980672.jpeg\")
\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tFriday 04 September 2026 5:00 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tThursday 03 September 2026 5:12 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Squeezed by inflation and rising geopolitical tensions, the historic insurance market Lloyd\u2019s of London suffered a hit to its profit in the first half of the year. Nowhere was this impact more acute than in its marine business, which faced severe pressure at the height of the US war with Iran.<\/p>\n
Over the past six months, the world\u2019s largest insurance market has navigated a rapidly evolving and increasingly volatile global landscape, driven largely by conflict in the Middle East. The marine sector faced severe pressure, with reports of thousands of vessels trapped in the Persian Gulf at the height of the US war with Iran.<\/p>\n
The Strait of Hormuz closure and strikes on vessels in the waterway forced the London Joint War Committee, a group of marine insurance experts run by the Lloyd\u2019s Market Association (LMA) alongside the International Underwriting Association (IUA), to expand its designated high-risk areas to include the coastlines of Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman, prompting a sharp rise in premiums as insurers priced in the risk of attack. <\/p>\n
In June, Lloyd\u2019s had to step in to ensure ships could access cover in the Strait with a $400m (\u00a3316m) war-risk facility.<\/a><\/p>\n Speaking to City AM, chief executive Patrick Tiernan argued that every major risk is now \u201cdisorderly at the same time\u201d and the industry must move from trying to predict specific risks to being prepared for all eventualities.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year we were talking about natural catastrophes, but this year, we\u2019re talking about man\u2011made catastrophes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Because the threats are so deeply interconnected, he said the industry can no longer rely solely on traditional probability models that try to predict specific disaster scenarios. The strategy must shift from predicting what will happen to being broadly prepared for anything that could happen, he said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tFTSE 100 Beazley profit plunges as war roils insurance market<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt is difficult to be in the prediction game. You just got to be in the prepared game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n