Carrier
The insurer bears the insurance risk under the policy. Identify the legal insurer, not just a program brand.
Read about carriersInsurance market guide
Lloyd's Coverholder.
A Lloyd's coverholder is a company authorized by a Lloyd's managing agent to enter into insurance contracts on behalf of a syndicate under a binding authority. The binding authority defines the coverholder's products, territories, limits, referrals, documentation, and other delegated functions.
Transaction role
Follow the function, not the label.
The coverholder acts as agent of the Lloyd's underwriters within the binding authority and may underwrite, issue documents, collect premium, or handle other functions if specifically delegated.
Confirm the responsibility
Ask who can quote, who can bind, who issues the policy and who handles service. Those responsibilities depend on the specific agreement and program, not just the company label.
Practical broker checklist
Reviewing a delegated Lloyd's program
- Identify the coverholder, the supporting managing agent and the relevant program rather than relying on a Lloyd's logo.
- Confirm that the account's class, territory and requested limit fit the binding authority and ask about referrals.
- Clarify who issues the insurance documentation and where policy service and claims notifications should go.
An illustrative account
A coverholder offers a product in one territory but the applicant operates in another. Confirm territorial scope before preparing a placement; approval of the firm does not mean every product is available everywhere.
This is a hypothetical preparation example, not an actual placement or a promise of coverage.
Compare the related program administrator roleThe roles in one placement
Who does what?
MGA or MGU
A delegated underwriting business may evaluate and accept accounts within the insurer's agreed authority. The labels overlap; the agreement determines the scope.
Read about MGAsRead about MGUsWholesale broker
The intermediary helps the retail agent prepare and place the account with an underwriting market. A brokerage role alone does not confer underwriting authority.
Read about wholesale brokersEvidence
Signals worth verifying.
Authority signals
- Lloyd's approval
- Sponsoring managing agent and syndicate
- Current binding authority
- Defined territorial, product, limit, and referral scope
Access questions
- Which managing agent and syndicate support the binding authority?
- What may the coverholder quote or bind?
- Which territories, classes, and limits apply?
- What must be referred to the managing agent?
False confidence
What does not prove access.
- Use of the Lloyd's name without a current authority check
- Coverholder approval for a different program
- Historical binding authority
- A broker's access to Lloyd's without the relevant product agreement
Primary reference: Lloyd's coverholder guidance
Next action
Discuss the account with Hedge.
Start with the operations, location, requested coverage and the facts making placement difficult. Check appetite or send the account through Hedge's secure submission process for review.