Welcome to Lloyd’s

This section contains information for newly approved coverholders.

We are pleased to welcome you to the Lloyd’s coverholder community

Coverholders play a vital role within the Lloyd’s market, enabling managing agents to:

  • Access international markets efficiently
  • Compete effectively with local insurers
  • Underwrite small and medium-sized risks that may otherwise be difficult to reach directly

Your approval has been granted in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Intermediaries Byelaws Requirements Of The Council - Lloyd's.

You have been assigned a unique identifier (PIN), which is included in your approval letter. This PIN is used within Atlas to hold your details and to set out any conditions attached to your approval. It also defines the parameters under which your approved trading location(s) may conduct binding authority business on behalf of Lloyd’s managing agents.

As a Lloyd’s approved coverholder, you may enter into multiple binding authority agreements with different managing agents. Subject to the terms of these agreements, you may also be authorised to issue insurance documentation, including certificates of insurance and other documents evidencing contracts of insurance.

Please note that any additional trading locations from which you wish to carry out coverholder activities must receive separate approval from Lloyd’s before commencing business.

This approval is conditional upon you entering into a binding authority agreement with a Lloyd’s managing agent within six months of the date of approval.

Further information on Coverholders

Lloyd's licenses

Protecting the Lloyd’s brand and global licensing network is essential to the market’s success. Lloyd’s operates across multiple territories, each with its own legal, regulatory, and tax requirements, and may also accept certain risks where locally permitted.

Correctly identifying the risk location is key to ensuring compliance, although this can be complex.

To support this:

Together, these tools help ensure business is written in line with Lloyd’s global compliance obligations.

For international trading advice please contact LITA@lloyds.com.

Guidance for coverholders

The binding authority agreement outlines all of the Coverholder’s responsibilities, including any authority granted to handle premiums, issue insurance documents, and manage claims. Clearly defining the terms and conditions of the binding authority ensures that, as a Coverholder, you understand the scope of your permitted activities and the standards you must follow in your role as an approved Coverholder.

For Lloyd’s Europe this is a Coverholder Appointment Agreement (CAA) that will be used. A CAA is the contract that formally appoints a coverholder and sets the rules, responsibilities, and governance framework for acting on behalf of a Lloyd’s insurer.

When a Coverholder is granted authority to bind risks on behalf of one or more Lloyd’s Syndicates, they are typically responsible for collecting and reporting the premiums associated with those risks. They must also remit the premiums they have collected to the Managing Agent through the Lloyd’s broker.

Additionally, in many jurisdictions, Coverholders are required to comply with local regulatory obligations. These may include the calculation and payment of applicable taxes, as well as meeting all reporting requirements set by local tax authorities and regulators.

Please use Crystal+ to assist with this: Crystal+ - Lloyd's.

More information can be found at Premium and Claims Handling - Lloyd's

The certificate serves as the formal record of the insurance contract between the policyholder and the Managing Agent. As a Coverholder, you must ensure that the format and content of any insurance documentation you issue are approved by the Managing Agent, and this approval should be obtained through the Lloyd’s broker, if one in the chain.

When delegating underwriting authority under a binding authority, the Managing Agent must determine whether to also delegate any claims‑handling authority. This may be granted to the Coverholder or to an external service provider, commonly referred to as a Delegated Claims Administrators (DCA). In some cases, a Loss Adjuster may also be appointed to investigate the circumstances surrounding a claim. The scope, responsibilities, and conditions under which these service providers operate must be clearly documented within the binding authority agreement.

A Managing Agent may choose to retain full control of all notified claims, particularly if it decides not to delegate any claims‑handling tasks to a Coverholder or DCA. Alternatively, the Managing Agent may only handle claims that fall outside the delegated authority. High‑value, complex, or contentious claims typically sit outside a Coverholder’s or DCA’s authority and are referred back to the Managing Agent for direct handling.

More information can be found at Premium and Claims Handling - Lloyd's

To ensure high‑quality and compliant reporting, new Coverholders are strongly encouraged to work closely with their Brokers and Managing Agents. Coverholders must provide Lloyd’s underwriters with accurate and timely information on risks, premiums, and claims.

Lloyd’s aims to create a consistent and efficient flow of data across the market by collaborating with stakeholders to define common reporting standards. These data standards are mandatory for all new Coverholders and adopting them from the outset helps ensure smooth onboarding and ongoing compliance.

For more information on reporting standards please see - Reporting Standards - Lloyd's

If a policyholder is dissatisfied with any activity carried out by the Coverholder on behalf of the Managing Agent (for example, claims handling), they have the right to raise a complaint. The Coverholder must maintain clear, accessible, and effective complaints‑handling procedures.

These procedures must:
  • Comply with all applicable local regulatory requirements, and
  • Meet Lloyd’s complaints‑handling standards for the relevant territory.


The Managing Agent is responsible for:
  • Defining the level of complaints‑handling authority delegated to the Coverholder, and
  • Clearly communicating their expectations, including escalation points, reporting requirements, and any activities that must be referred back to the Managing Agent.

Each year, Coverholders are required to confirm in ATLAS that their core compliance information, such as Professional Indemnity (PI) Certificates, Financial Statements, and other key documents, is accurate and up to date. Any revised or renewed documents must be uploaded to ATLAS, so they are accessible to all relevant stakeholders.

Please note that Carriers may still request additional, contract‑specific compliance documentation directly from Coverholders as part of their ongoing oversight.

Lloyd’s will issue a notification to Coverholders with upcoming annual compliance requirements due within the quarter. As part of their due diligence obligations, Managing Agents must review all relevant documents submitted in ATLAS to ensure compliance requirements are met.

Following approval, Coverholders may wish to change the scope of the approval given by Lloyd’s (for example to change the territories they have approval to write in). They may also need to update the due diligence information submitted to Lloyd’s. Post approval changes must be notified to Lloyd’s via ATLAS by the Coverholder or sponsoring Broker or Direct Deal Managing Agent (DDMA) (where there is no Lloyd’s Broker).

For more information on Changes to permissions, please see - Changes to permissions

Lloyd’s managing agents and Lloyd’s or non-Lloyd’s brokers are responsible for notifying the Delegated Authorities team at Lloyd’s of any matters relating to the coverholder, including changes in ownership, control, principal personnel and any other matter of which Lloyd’s would reasonably expect notice. Every approved coverholder should ensure that their managing agent and broker are informed of these matters through Atlas.

Lloyd’s is committed to maintaining high standards and ensuring a consistent approach to the audit of Coverholders and Delegated Claims Administrators (DCAs). To support this, Lloyd’s has collaborated with the Market and the LMA to develop a standardised LMA Coverholder and DCA Audit Scope. This shared framework promotes uniformity in expectations and audit delivery across the Market.

In addition, where two or more Managing Agents hold the lead position on a binding authority, Lloyd’s coordinates audits on their behalf. This coordinated model reduces duplication and helps minimise the regulatory burden that multiple annual audits can place on Coverholders and DCAs operating with several Lloyd’s leads.

Since 2018, this process has been further streamlined through the Delegated Audit Manager (DAM), an online platform that automates audit coordination and supports efficient planning, communication, and oversight of the delegated audit process.

For more information on the Audit process please see - Audit - Lloyd's

Resources

Market Guidance

Market guidance that should be applied across delegated authority arrangements.

Find our more

Country manager hub

Lloyd’s Country Managers act as local representatives for the Lloyd’s market, providing regulatory and licensing guidance to Coverholders and Managing Agents in their territories.

Find out more

Brand guidelines

To ensure the Lloyd’s brand is used correctly we have produced a set of brand guidelines for approved Coverholders.

Find out more

Lloyd’s Glossary

Glossary of insurance related terms used by the Lloyd’s Corporation and market participants.

Find out more

Binding authority agreement

A binding authority is an agreement between a managing agent and a coverholder.

Find out more

Financial Crime

Coverholders are responsible for managing financial crime risks within their operations.

Find out more

Tools

Lloyd’s Wording Repository (LWR)

Enables you to view vetted policy wordings and clauses regularly used within the London market

Find out more

Delegated Contract and Oversight Manager (DCOM)

Delegated Contract and Oversight Manager (DCOM) is our platform allowing market participants to register binding authority contracts.

Find out more

ATLAS

ATLAS is a secure web-based system that will act as an electronic filing and online application system for coverholders and service companies.

Find out more

Delegated Audit Manager

Delegated Audit Manager is an online system that allows the market to manage and monitor the audit of Coverholder and Delegated Claims Administrators (DCAs).

Find out more

Crystal+

Crystal+ provides guidance on regulatory and tax requirements.

Find out more

Market communications and market bulletins.

Lloyd's regularly issues important communications to the Lloyd's market including regulatory updates, market bulletins and information about upcoming events. This can be found here - Market Communications.

Market Bulletins can also be accessed here. Coverholders can subscribe to receive these market bulletins when available.

Please sign up below to receive our Lloyd's Delegated Authority Newsletter.  

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Helpful contacts

Delegated Authorities Team

coverholders@lloyds.com

Queries on Audit, DCA’s, coverholder compliance queries and lapsing

delegatedauthorities@lloyds.com

Lloyd's International Trading Advice (LITA)

LITA@Lloyds.com

Lloyd’s Country Representatives (Coverholder Reviewer Directory)

Coverholder Reviewer Directory

Taxation enquires

tax-operations@lloyds.com

Tax contacts

Full list of tax contacts

Trade associations

Managing General Agents’ Association (MGAA)

MGAA

Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA)

LMA

London & International Insurance Brokers’ Association (LIIBA)

LIIBA