Lloyd’s of London underwriters, the world’s biggest...

Lloyd’s of London underwriters, the world’s biggest insurance market, reported record 1984 profits Thursday but warned members about doing business in the United States because of huge insurance claims there. Lloyd’s routinely reports profits with a three-year delay to account for insurance claims. Lloyd Chairman Peter Miller said overall profits for 1984 were $460 million, an increase $59 million over the previous year. He said the 1984 figures had finally reversed a three-year trend in underwriting losses. But he warned: “Lloyd’s underwriters must ask . . . ‘How far it is prudent to commit underwriting resources in the future to a class of business hedged about with such dangers and uncertainties?’ In spite of all the efforts that have been made, quite extraordinary court awards and judicial interpretations continue to come from, in particular, the American scene.”