Lloyds of London is set to pay between $3bn and $4.3bn to customers as a result of the pandemic but predicts the the insurance industry will have to stomach a $203bn loss over 2020 when factoring underwriting and portfolio falls.

The figure is on par with payouts linked to the 9/11 attacks and the combined impact of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017. But Lloyd’s, the insurance marketplace, said in a 14 May statement that the overall cost to the global insurance industry of the coronavirus crisis will be far in excess of both historical events.