Category: Lloyd's market · Reviewed by Tim Roche, Director · PI & Commercial · Last reviewed 2026-06-05
The Market Reform Contract (MRC) is the standard format for London market insurance and reinsurance slips, providing a consistent structure of risk details, information, security and signing provisions. The MRC has been adopted across Lloyd’s, the company market and the London International Insurance Group as the de facto standard placing contract.
Category: Lloyd’s market Also known as: MRC, MRC v3 Related concepts: Lloyd’s slip, MRC slip, Lloyd’s of London
The MRC was developed by the London Market Group following the contract certainty reforms of 2005–2007. It provides a standard template of sections — risk details, information, security details, subscription agreement and fiscal and regulatory details — to ensure that the slip is complete and unambiguous at inception.
The current version (MRC v3) was introduced in 2022 to support electronic placement and to align with PPL data standards. Earlier versions (v1, v2) are still found in legacy placements. The MRC is mandatory for most Lloyd’s placements and is used by most London market participants.
The MRC is the principal contract document for London market insurance and reinsurance. Lloyd’s Market Bulletins require its use for in-scope classes. The contract certainty code and the Insurance Act 2015 set out the legal framework for the placement.
The MRC provides standard headings under which the placement information is organised:
The MRC is increasingly drafted directly in PPL with the structured data and free text fields populated to support straight-through processing.
An illustrative example: a London market placement of a £100m international property programme is documented on MRC v3. The risk details section sets out the insured, cover, period and limits. The information section lists the supporting underwriting submission. The security details section lists the eight subscribing Lloyd’s syndicates and four company market reinsurers with their respective lines (totalling 100 per cent). The subscription agreement appoints the lead Lloyd’s syndicate as slip leader.
This entry is part of the Apex Insurance Wiki. Last reviewed by Matt Bartlett on 2026-06-05. Next review: 2026-12-05.
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