It revealed that gross payouts linked to COVID-19 disruption were expected to have topped £6.2bn for the year as a whole – almost a record for a single event and on a par with the cost from the 9-11 terror attacks in 2001.
The market said this was because £2.6bn of the sum was re-insured and limited the financial damage.
The previous year had delivered £2.5bn in profits.
