(April 30 – 10:50 ET) – Lloyd’s of London is launching an Internet portal that gives insurance brokers and intermediaries all over the world direct access to the Lloyd’s of London insurance market.

lloyds.com provide insurance professionals with a clear route to the hundreds of specialist insurance products offered by Lloyd’s insurers and brokers.

By logging on and inputting details of the type of risk and the relevant country, a broker or insurance professional will be given details of which insurers and brokers are listing suitable products. From that point, a broker can contact the parties selected through lloyds.com to investigate further.

Ashok Gupta, chief executive of lloyds.com said: “For the first time, a broker almost anywhere in the world will be able to cut through the complexities of Lloyd’s and ask one very simple question: can you help me or not? lloyds.com is a type of insurance internet introduction agency. We take an intermediary and match their needs with Lloyd’s insurers and brokers.”

“What makes this portal different is that lloyds.com is aimed at professionals right around the world, not just a single country. The portal illustrates the choice that is an intrinsic part of the Lloyd’s market. It holds details of over 1,800 insurance products entries produced by a wide range of Lloyd’s insurers and brokers,” Gupta added.

The lloyds.com portal currently offers two main services. Marketfinder is an intelligent search for products offered by Lloyd’s syndicates and brokers based on risk type and country. Market Intelligence offers analysis and comment on global insurance issues.

The portal is available to insurance professionals in most countries — the exceptions being countries where regulations prevent it operating in its current form — and registration for users is free.

An international advertising campaign to announce the portal’s presence will begin this week in business and insurance media.