Women ‘bullied and assaulted’ at insurer Lloyd’s

ONE of the City’s grandest institutions faces a sexism storm after an investigation exposed claims of harassment, assault and bullying.

Female victims say they were abused and attacked by male bosses within the insurance market Lloyd’s of London, followed by efforts to silence them.

Women at Lloyd’s are referred to as ‘totty’ by staff and rated from one to ten on their ‘shagability’, according to an investigation by Bloomberg Businessweek.

When Lloyd’s appointed its first female boss, Dame Inga Beale, in 2014 to try to solve the problem, it is claimed she received anonymous letters including one which called for her to ‘go and die’.

Tory MP Nicky Morgan, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said: ‘Everything must be done to ensure that this behaviour is stamped out immediately.’

Bad behaviour at Lloyd’s ranges from abusive language to outright assault, according to Bloomberg, which spoke to 18 women there.

In one of the worst cases, a woman claims she was attacked in a pub near Lloyd’s by a manager when he was drunk. She claims to have been persuaded to drop the complaint by her employer as it would be bad for her career.

Another woman was allegedly sharing a taxi with a drunken manager after a night out. She claims he tried to grab her and she was so scared she jumped out.

She was allegedly marginalised after complaining. Her attacker is said to have kept his job.

Lloyd’s of London operates as a market where policies are bought and sold by independent brokers, traders and wealthy individuals who underwrite policies.

Much of the bad behaviour was reportedly carried out by people who work there but are not actually Lloyd’s employees.

Dame Inga quit last year and was replaced by John Neal. He said: ‘We take it extremely seriously and will be talking to the Lloyd’s market to ensure we stamp out these inappropriate behaviours.’