Julian D. Lloyd, the lead class underwriter for Amlin Plus Horse Insurance of Lloyd's, died following a lengthy illness on Wednesday, Mar. 21. He was 67.
Born in February of 1951, Lloyd started out as a claims broker at Sedgwick Collins in 1971, the same year he married his wife Sallie, before switching to underwriting at the same firm, which later was known as Methuen. He then spent over two decades at insurance provider Hiscox, developing their bloodstock book. In July of 2011, Lloyd joined Amlin as a bloodstock underwriter. Very knowledgeable in the area of stallion insurance which he used to good effect with Nureyev (Northern Dancer) among others, Lloyd also served as chairman of the Lloyd Market Association's Livestock Business Panel.
“He was the first person I worked for as a Lloyd's bloodstock underwriter,” remarked Amlin Plus Managing Director and Principle Underwriter David Ashby. “Julian was one of the first Lloyd's underwriters to really embrace a solid knowledge of horses with his insurance knowledge. He had horses at home and he worked in a polo stable and he worked with hunters. He put that knowledge of horses into his bloodstock underwriting. Some 20-odd years passed and he came back to work for me. He's still on our books as of yesterday [Wednesday].”
Ashby said, “You could argue he was lucky to be with us, because the first time he went to Australia, he was in a private plane flying up to the Hunter Valley which crashed. He was okay, and I'm not sure how badly it crashed, because the story may have grown in Julian's retelling. Julian was a pretty unique person really. He had his own view on life, but generally he was good fun and always enjoyed a party.”
The Lloyds moved to the Yorkshire area in 2005, where they purchased Garbutt Farm in order to be closer to family. Following renovations, they established the Garbutt Farm Bed & Breakfast on the Cold Kirby property near Thirsk. Lloyd split his time between Amblin in London and the North Yorkshire farm, where he raised both racehorses and sport horses, as well as English Longhorn cattle.
“He was as cerebral and knowledgeable about his space as any one that I had ever met at the time,” said Barry Weisbord. “People who did this at the time were like stockbrokers; the risks that they managed were paper transactions to them. To him, they were real animals and real people. He was as interesting and engaging a person as existed in the horse world, and he invented a new way of how London underwriters did things. By traveling all over the world to see his risks, he changed the way the business was done. He managed through much of his career some of the biggest stallion risks.”
One of those risks was the aforementioned Nureyev, who broke his right hind leg in a paddock accident in May, 1987. While Walmac's owner, John T.L. Jones, focused his attention on how to save the horse through surgery at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee, Weisbord, part of Walmac's management team at the time, said, “It presented a real problem because at that time, mortality insurance only paid the farm if a horse was dead. No one had considered the possibility at the time that a stallion could survive but not be able to cover mares.”
After Nureyev survived the surgery, Weisbord said he flew to London and met with Lloyd, who was creative enough to write a policy which covered that possibility and reduced the underwriting risk over time if he were able to successfully breed, which he ultimately was.
Lloyd is survived by his wife, Sallie and daughters Andrea, a lawyer; and Helen Lloyd-Herrington, who is married to trainer Michael Herrington. The latter duo utilize Garbutt Farm as the base for Michael Herrington Racing.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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