Lloyd’s of London ready for £8bn dogfight over planes ‘stolen’ by Putin

Lloyd’s of London ready for £8bn dogfight over hundreds of planes ‘stolen’ by Putin.

The insurance market is reportedly getting set to battle Russia after around 500 leased planes were seized by Moscow. Lloyd’s of London is expected to enter a battle worth billions of pounds over the planes.

As reported by The Telegraph on May 2, Russia has effectively “stolen the planes” by trying to transfer them to a Russian register.

Commenting on the UK’s move to block Russian companies from accessing British-based insurance, Paul Jebely from the law firm Withers explained: “Simply put, no insurance means no flights. Most aviation risk is insured and reinsured in the Lloyd’s market, and most Russian aviation risk is reinsured there.

“Depriving Russian airlines of access, with apparent immediate effect, is nearly catastrophic for the airlines — as intended.”

He went on to add: “[This will] lead to a generation of insurance litigation and arbitration as various hands are forced. Resolving insurance coverage disputes requires a sound commercial approach to the parties’ positions, and that frankly is lacking at the moment, on both sides.”

A Lloyd’s spokesperson commented on the evolving situation. The spokesperson revealed: “As the situation is still evolving, it is too early for us to comment on the potential exposure and too early for us to determine the extent specific classes will be affected.

“However, we are approaching this problem in a systematic and thorough way while engaging key stakeholders in the process.”

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