President Trump has transformed the maritime insurance market. This change will challenge Lloyd’s of London’s near-monopoly. Steve Skojec lists all the positives on X.
“Lloyds of London was the gold standard for maritime insurance policies until just a day or two ago, when they started cancelling policies or jacking them up 3-5X. Other insurers followed. That collapsed commercial shipping traffic through Hormuz, which choked oil shipments out of the Middle East.
“Trump doing this means the DFC has the chance to displace Lloyd’s as the big dog in this game, when they have been the lock-in player for many years.
“It also frees up all the oil that was getting trapped there, heading off shortages and keeping the energy market alive. And why not? It’s the American Navy that sank the Iranian ships that were harassing tankers. And the American Navy, at least for now, will keep those tankers safe.
“It’s a huge reassurance to allies, both oil producers and oil consumers, that our campaign in Iran isn’t going to sink their economies. And it allows America to be choosy about traffic in the Strait. It also potentially means billions of dollars in insurance premiums at wartime rates going to America instead of the UK. And those rates are STILL going to be cheaper than what shippers were getting.”
Keep reading. There is a lot more.
This is a ballsy power play by Trump.
Lloyd’s of London was the gold standard for maritime insurance policies until just a day or two ago when they started cancelling policies or jacking them up 3-5X. Others insurers followed. That collapsed commercial shipping traffic through… https://t.co/C2Oa6PhC63
— Steve Skojec (@SteveSkojec) March 3, 2026
The Story No One Is Talking About
John Konrad V, a sea captain and shipbuilder, discusses a very real possibility of breaking London’s global insurance market.
“This is potentially the biggest Iran story nobody is talking about: the global insurance market may be heading toward a systemic crisis.”
“London isn’t just a financial center, it’s THE center of global insurance. Lloyd’s underwrites ~40% of the world’s marine cargo. Ship sinks, port gets bombed, canal gets blocked the bill lands in London. This is why the UK punches above its weight. Not the Royal Navy. Not diplomacy. Insurance. Control insurance, control trade. And London doesn’t just control the 90% of global trade that moves by sea. Lloyds and the London market are major insurers of almost everything: skyscrapers, factories, ports, satellites, and entire supply chains. You can’t participate in public markets or raise large amounts of capital without insurance.
“Now, the normal playbook for war risk is repricing, not cancellation. Canceling coverage entirely is a massive escalation in underwriting posture. It signals something beyond risk; it signals uncertainty so deep the underwriter can’t even price it. The question everyone should be asking: why? Why not just jack up premiums and make a fortune off the crisis like they did in the Black Sea off Ukraine? To answer that, you have to understand WHY London has maintained a stranglehold on global insurance while losing nearly every submarket related to ships. The answer: better intelligence.”
Konrad believes that intelligence flows from MI6 to Lloyd’s. Since Starmer decided to sell Diego Garcia for no good reason, the anger in DC has been palpable. The communications between Langley and London have gone dark, or at least throttled. It means every company globally that is insured through London is at risk since they will be flying blind also.
The cancellation of war risk insurance that we see could be the canary in the coal mine.
“If this hypothesis is correct, we could be looking at a systemic repricing event across global insurance markets…. the kind of cascading uncertainty that defined 2008 and COVID. Watch Lloyd’s. Watch reinsurance spreads. What Five Eyes? That’s where this story, and possibly Wall Street, breaks,” Konrad writes.
This is potentially the biggest Iran story nobody is talking about: the global insurance market may be heading toward a systemic crisis. Here’s why…
Most people don’t realize London isn’t just a financial center it’s THE center of global insurance.
Lloyd’s underwrites ~40% of… https://t.co/DMXQahmJ1n
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) March 2, 2026
OK, but maritime insurance is hardly a justification for the war. It is just another excuse, like the “the war is all about China” excuse.
I am not saying he is wrong, I honestly don t know enough about it, but with the little I know I would be surprised that has a huge effect on Wall Street. It will hurt the UK yes if Loyds loses a lot of customers, but the negative effect on the US stock market/Wall Street should be quite moderate.… Read more »
I would like to think it’s just another master stroke by President Trump and his team.
Yes, being the shrewd businessman that he is, President Trump is always looking for an edge to profit when and where others suffer from weak knees. And the main reason that Trump and the USA can do this is our overwhelming military power and our president’s willingness to do what others (UK, France, etc.) cower away from. Why should Lloyds… Read more »
Indeed, Trump may be on to something very good for the USA.
He is much smarter than some realize he is.
That is what I think it might be, a master stroke.
It may briefly cause a panic and a drop on the Stock Market like the Tariffs caused last year, but then the markets will go up again, and probably higher.
Spot on. The movement of energy in the gulf region is key to stable oil price, and the stock markets. Securing Venezuela oil before the Iran move makes more sense now.