US Service of Suit and Applicable Law Updates

Lloyd’s requires that all Lloyd’s policies covering business in the US contain a service of suit clause.

The LMA has published LMA5020A, LMA5020B and NMA1998A model service of suit clauses for use on US policies. These are updates to previous clauses, which have now been withdrawn. The new clauses are available on the Lloyd's Wordings Repository (LWR).

LMA5020A is for use on policies where the security is all Lloyd’s. LMA5020B is for use on mixed Lloyd’s/non-Lloyd’s policies.

LMA5021 Applicable Law (USA) clause has also been updated to clarify in its title that it should not be used in tandem with an arbitration provision. It will now be LMA5021A and LMA5021 has been withdrawn.

A full guidance note has been published alongside the amendments. This should be referred to for further detail on the purpose and intended use of the clauses.

Arabella Ramage
Legal and Regulatory Director
arabella.ramage@lmalloyds.com