London’s insurance market has digitised how it records deals, but not how it actually makes them. That distinction, said Christopher Croft (pictured), chief executive of the London & International Insurance Brokers’ Association (LIIBA), is now central to whether the market can sustain its global leadership in complex risk.
“What’s missing at the moment is that there is no real vision of how it would work and what the day‑to‑day life of a trader would be in a digital trading world,” said Croft.
That absence of clarity is what LIIBA has dubbed a “vision vacuum.” It’s also why the 2026 agenda, traditionally drafted by Croft alone over the quiet days between Christmas and New Year, was, for the first time, shaped in advance by LIIBA’s executive committee. “They were very keen to discuss it before Christmas,” Croft said. “That reflects how engaged they are in this.”
Most London market risks are now bound through digital placing platforms. But in practical terms, Croft said, the actual trading still happens off-system.
“Essentially, the deal is done off‑system and then recreated on a placing platform,” he said. “That hasn’t done anything to significantly change the way deals are done.”
While digitisation has streamlined back-end processes, it hasn’t solved a deeper problem: the erosion of underwriting authority at the Box – the traditional desks at Lloyd’s where underwriters once gave decisions on the spot. Increasing regulation has slowed that process, and in a softening market, delays can prompt brokers to place business elsewhere.
“What would make a significant difference,” Croft said, “is some sort of real‑time modelling, real‑time exposure management, something that can speed up the pace of decision-making.”
LIIBA’s goal is to give brokers and underwriters a clear picture of what digital trading would actually mean for them – not just operationally, but professionally. “We want to be able to say: this is what your day would be like, and this is why it would be better overall for your clients,” Croft said.
As markets soften, the pressure to be fast and responsive intensifies. Croft pointed to one LIIBA member whose internal data showed that more than 80% of business went to the first insurer to quote.
“When you’re one of multiple options, speed becomes increasingly important,” he said. “And that’s what happens in a softening market.”
London can no longer rely on tradition or location alone. “There’s the word ‘international’ in our title for a reason,” Croft added. “Any of our members will access capital anywhere in the world if that’s the right thing for their clients.”
While LIIBA is pushing hard on digital, it is not pushing for automation at all costs. London’s edge, Croft argues, still comes from its people, and the market’s ability to handle the risks that don’t fit global templates.
“There are vast contracts that take some time to negotiate,” he said. “I think we’re a long way off a world where there aren’t going to be significant bits of business that are driven by meetings.”
That’s especially true for large global programmes or for niche, specialist risks where nimbleness matters more than scale. “Complete digitalisation of trading is not something we’re going to see in the medium term,” he said. “But I might be wrong, and that’s something we need to talk about.”
On emerging risks – climate, cyber, geopolitical – Croft doesn’t mince words: London is not moving fast enough. Protection gaps are growing, and the market is often hesitant to underwrite what it doesn’t yet fully understand.
“We would characterise it – because we’re brokers – as insurers tending to look at new risk and seek to exclude it, rather than try to find ways to cover it,” he said.
The answer lies in a shift in mindset – along with regulatory backing to support innovation even when the data isn’t perfect. Brokers, for their part, have already created new data sets to price previously uninsurable risks. But that work needs to be supported, not stalled.
Croft cited a now-legendary Lloyd’s policy describing an early motor car as “a ship that sails on land.”
“You need to return to that sort of innovation,” he said. “We want to cover this risk. We don’t really know that much about it, but we do know that it’s quite like something we do know a lot about.”
Asked whether London’s leadership is at risk if it doesn’t define the next phase of digital trading, Croft doesn’t dismiss the concern: “There’s always that risk.”
London benefits from its status as a centre of excellence, but excellence can be outpaced if the market becomes too slow or too cautious.
“If there is an opportunity for London’s position to be eroded, it will be,” he said. “So it’s important to close off that possibility.”
With its 2026 agenda, LIIBA isn’t just offering policy input, it’s asking the market to collectively imagine what digital trading could, and should, become. Without that vision, Croft warns, the market may find its most complex and valuable risks placed somewhere else.
