It was on his premises that some of the first insurance arrangements for marine merchants and sea captains were organised. Over the centuries Lloyd's gradually evolved from a club of marine underwriters to an innovative market underwriting a huge variety of international risks. Today it not only provides cover for ships but for cars, planes, satellites, intellectual property and much more. The current generation of brokers, underwriters and agents are housed in an avant-garde building designed by the architect Richard Rogers in Lime Street in London. The market at Lloyd's is based on the principle of spreading risk.
Underwriters accept the risks from brokers - on behalf of the members of each syndicate.
If calculations are precise, the cost of meeting insurance claims and providing a return for the capital backers can be settled from the flow of premiums. From time to time however major losses are experienced at Lloyd's and the scale of those experienced between 1989 and 1993 had a dire impact. Compensation payments for asbestosis, hurricane damage claims and the cost of cleaning up after the Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster were some of the most famous unexpected catastrophes to hit Lloyd's. However corporate capital backers and a reconstruction and renewal plan ensured survival. The level of private wealth which an individual applicant must be able to prove in order to become a member of an underwriting syndicate is currently 250,000.