Hardy Underwriting Plc could become the latest Lloyd?s of London insurer to move to Bermuda.

The revelation came from Hardy?s chief executive officer Barbara Merry, who told Bloomberg News yesterday: ?The competitive advantage is enormous. I?m slightly concerned we aren?t going to have much choice.?

Hardy will decide what to do by the time the company publishes its first-half earnings in September, Ms Merry added.

Over the past year Lloyd?s mainstays Hiscox and Omega Underwriting announced their plans to move their headquarters to the Island.

Another, Amlin PLC, set up a Bermuda subsidiary. And Brit Insurance Holdings, a London-based insurer and reinsurer, said last month it would be the lead investor behind Norton Re, a new Bermuda-based reinsurer focused on catastrophe coverage.

The main attraction is Bermuda?s zero corporate taxation ? compared to 30 percent in the UK ? as well as looser regulation than in Britain.

?It?s a bit of a disaster for Lloyd?s,? said Ms Merry, who sits on the council of Lloyd?s responsible for the management and supervision of the market.

Lloyd?s is not a company, but rather a marketplace that brings together insurers. Brokers go to the Lloyd?s building, shopping risks among more than 60 insurers or syndicates in the market.

But Lloyd?s has been slow to take on board technology and transactions that are performed electronically elsewhere are still done on paper in London.

Lloyd?s chief executive officer Richard Ward has a three-year plan to cut costs for insurers operating at Lloyd?s. And the insurance industry has also lobbied UK Finance Minister Gordon Brown to lessen the financial and regulatory burden of doing business in Britain, so it does not lose its competitive edge in the global marketplace.

The exodus to Bermuda hasn?t prevented the Lloyd?s market from expanding, helped by price increases driven by losses related to the US hurricanes of 2005. Lloyd?s said on Monday it anticipates increasing the amount of premiums it can accept this year by 8.9 percent to ?16.1 billion ($31.7 billion).

Hardy plans to increase its underwriting by 75 percent to ?175 million this year. The company has hired new underwriters and is investing in technology to increase its efficiency, Ms Merry said.

Hardy underwrites most classes of commercial business through Lloyd?s Syndicate 382 and is best known for aviation insurance ? particularly helicopters ? as well as for providing coverage for ships and their cargoes.

Hardy?s has also set up Syndicate 3820 to underwrite for 2007, to develop a broadly based book of non-marine business.