Descartes Underwriting has secured approval as a coverholder at Lloyd's through a binding authority agreement with OAK Global's Syndicate 2843 - opening direct access to the world's oldest insurance marketplace and enabling the Paris-based parametric specialist to pursue risks beyond the appetite of its existing carriers. Target markets include high-net-worth individuals in the US seeking cover for natural disasters and large-capacity risks such as data centres.
The approval is already translating into concrete placements. Last month, Willis placed a parametric flood policy underwritten by Descartes for Royal Windsor Racecourse - a venue previously considered uninsurable for flood risk. The site is part of a 16-site estate operated by Arena Racing Company, and the placement illustrates precisely the kind of risk the Lloyd's route is designed to reach.
Parametric insurance pays out on a pre-agreed trigger - such as wind speed or earthquake magnitude - rather than assessed loss, settling claims faster and with less dispute than traditional indemnity cover. The model is particularly suited to climate-driven perils where loss assessment is slow or contested.
The move comes as the global protection gap continues to widen. Global natural disasters produced estimated economic losses of $368 billion in 2024, with nearly two thirds going uninsured, according to Descartes' analysis published alongside its International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation membership in October 2025.
Tanguy Touffut, co-founder and CEO of Descartes Underwriting, said the designation reflected confidence in the firm's underwriting expertise and governance framework.
"In an increasingly volatile, fragmented, and complex world, Descartes is leveraging innovation in all its forms to deliver relevant coverage solutions to brokers and policyholders," Touffut said. "This partnership will complement our existing portfolio of insurers and reinsurers and open up access to promising new markets."
For OAK Global, the deal brings a partner with proprietary technology and physical modelling tools. Its leadership said these would strengthen data-driven risk selection across the syndicate's portfolio.
Cathal Carr, founder and CEO of OAK Global, said Descartes matched the profile of partner the firm had sought from the outset.
"From our first meeting, it was clear we share an ambition to develop innovative parametric solutions that close protection gaps for climate-driven perils in markets the wider industry finds difficult to serve," Carr said.
The partnership sits within OAK Horizon, a cross-class business unit OAK Global launched in January 2026 that underwrites risks at the intersection of climate and technology, spanning weather exposures, energy systems and technology-enabled assets across OAK Global's existing Lloyd's syndicates.
The Lloyd's approval puts Descartes inside a market senior underwriting leaders described as maturing rapidly, following the Insurance Innovators Summit 2025 in London. Market research cited by Marsh estimates the global parametric insurance market will reach $34.4 billion by 2033.
Descartes is well positioned to grow within it. The Windsor Racecourse placement is one example of a broader pipeline of risks - from data centres to HNW natural disaster exposure - that Lloyd's capacity now makes accessible, and that the firm's proprietary modelling tools are designed to price.
