The Lutine Bell still hangs in ceremonial splendour in the underwriting room of Lloyd’s of London, a historic reminder of the global insurance market’s maritime heritage and tradition.

But the bell itself is no longer rung as it once was to signal to brokers and insurers that a ship had been lost or returned safe.

That is because the 160-year-old bell is now sadly cracked — cracked like the market it has come to symbolise.