Lloyd's of London to recover end-2019 solvency levels by June - chairman

LONDON (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic has hit Lloyd's of London's [SOLYD.UL] solvency levels but the commercial insurance market's capital position should recover by the end of June, its chairman said on Thursday.

"It's become clear by the day that COVID-19 is a major loss event for the insurance industry globally," Bruce Carnegie-Brown told an online conference. The pandemic would hit both sides of an insurer's balance sheet, unlike just one side in the 9/11 attacks on the United States, or the global fiancial cisis a decade ago, he said.

Lloyd's of London's solvency ratio stood at 238% at the end of 2019, falling to 220% in April, but should return to December levels by June, he said.

Carnegie-Brown urged insurers to pay valid pandemic business interruption claims quickly, and said Lloyd's welcomed moves by the Financial Conduct Authority to seek court clarification on the wording of business interruption claims.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn, editing by Huw Jones)