Repayment could be over 25 years, with no new insurance required. To assess this, names must submit to rigorous means testing by Lloyd’s financial recovery department to ensure they have not dissipated assets.What are the special schemes?Lloyd’s is planning a special mortgage or loan facility, to help hard- hit names get around the difficulties of age, the complexity of their affairs and the need to raise up to 100 per cent loans against their homes. Planning is essential, and Lloyd’s requires early notice if you want help. The deadlines for payment of the finality bills is late July.What if I think it will be hard/impossible to pay my bill?Inform Lloyd’s promptly on the appropriate form in your Indicative Finality Statement pack.

Anyone with an estimated finality bill in excess of their funds at Lloyd’s should consider applying for additional debt credits These will be allocated on the basis of need. These are highly important decisions with considerable tax implications for some, and time is short. Lloyd’s has said no one will be left out of the settlement for a genuine lack of funds Special extra funds are there for the hardest hit. Moreover, these are estimate bills and the final premiums are likely to be lower for most people.What do I do next?Consult your financial adviser and banker.

The less fortunate will still need to find more cash.What do I do?Don’t panic, even if the bill looks unpayable. This shows an estimate of what, if anything, you will have to pay Equitas to reinsure all your old policy liabilities. Remember, any premium is over and above your funds pledged at Lloyd’s. For some names, these funds will be more than enough to cover the cost of Equitas, and they get some money back. The settlement therefore affects everyone involved in Lloyd’s before 1993, but each name’s case will be different, depending on how long, how risky and how much insurance an individual paid.Which is the key figure?The figure in the Summary Data of the Indicative Finality Statement. After years of uncertainty, tomorrow names will finally receive the first estimates of how much it will cost each of them to “achieve finality”.Who is affected?Every one of the 34,000 names.