General Underwriters Agreement (GUA)
A London market agreement setting which endorsements the leader can accept alone on behalf of all underwriters, and which require the agreement of the main followers or of everyone.
A contract placed with twenty underwriters must change during the period: a change of address, an added site, an extension of cover, a renewal extension. Obtaining each underwriter's consent for every change would be impractical. The General Underwriters Agreement, a London market agreement, organizes the allocation of authority by classifying changes into categories. Administrative or minor changes can be accepted by the leader alone, which then binds the whole list. More substantial changes require the agreement of the designated parties, generally the leader and one or two main followers. Major changes, affecting price, limit or the fundamental scope of cover, require everyone's agreement. The market reform contract states the option chosen and the designated underwriters. This arrangement is the counterpart of a subscription market's efficiency: it concentrates authority on a few experienced signatures, which speeds administration, but it requires followers to trust the leader's judgment throughout the contract, not just at placement.
Textbook case: an insured asks mid-year to add a 5 million euro warehouse to its property program placed with fifteen underwriters. Since the market reform contract classes this addition among changes subject to the designated parties, the broker obtains the agreement of the leader and the first follower, and the endorsement immediately binds all fifteen.
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