Lloyd's of London is poised to benefit from a return to the "old fashioned" diversification of insurance risk because of the crisis at AIG, according to senior market underwriters and brokers.

London 100, a survey of 100 senior executives in the London market, organised by the Insurance Insider publication, will show this week that 95 per cent of those surveyed thought Lloyd's would benefit from AIG's difficulties.

Peter Hastie, editor of the Insider, who chairs London 100, said the crisis at AIG was a warning against concentrating too much risk with one insurer.

Lloyd's, as a subscription market where many different insurers or reinsurers take on a slice of the risk, would be a natural beneficiary.

"The old fashioned subscription market had become almost out of fashion," said Mr Hastie. "But people have begun to realise the benefit of diversification and not banking everything on one bank or insurance company."

Prior to the problems at AIG, insurers and brokers said the trend was towards placing larger concentrations of risk with ever fewer insurers or reinsurers.

Two thirds of those surveyed also expected the financial crisis to drive up insurance and reinsurance prices. Some 44 per cent thought price rises would be across the board while 23 per cent thought there would be price rises in parts of the insurance and reinsurance markets.

Mr Hastie said the optimism about rates in the London market was an "almost total contrast to the abject gloom that is surrounding the global economy".

Indeed, a number of Lloyd's insurers are upbeat about the prospects for 2009, with some expanding to take advantage of the upturn. Analysts at Arden Partners estimate that Lloyd's will be one of the very few sectors to grow next year.

Underwriters and brokers expect reinsurance prices to increase at the January 1 renewal date because of a combination of $25bn of hurricane losses and an erosion in capital due to turbulence in financial markets.