Lloyd's names fail in court challenge to pounds 130m debts

More than 600 investors with Lloyd's of London yesterday failed in a legal bid to prevent the insurance market from pursing them for pounds 130m of debts. The investors - known as names - had challenged an attempt by Lloyd's to recover money for its rescue vehicle, Equitas, in the High Court. Equitas was formed in 1996 to reinsure more than pounds 10bn of losses made between 1988 and 1992.

The names claimed Lloyd's had used inaccurate records in an effort to assess their debts, including amounts not owed to Equitas.Lloyd's admitted it had made mistakes in assessing the amounts owed to Equitas, including other debts which were owed to Lloyd's itself. But Mr Justice Tuckey said the records were now in order.