Edgar Lavarello and Dan Schwarzmann, partners from PwC, have been appointed as joint administrators of the Gibraltar-based Elite Insurance Company Ltd (EIC), which specialised in the legal expenses sector and has ceased operations
Elite is an insurance company domiciled and regulated in Gibraltar, which was previously authorised to carry out business in the UK and Europe. Its products include after-the-event, motor, construction, professional indemnity, pet and warranty cover for approximately 900,000 individual and corporate policyholders.
The firm provided a range of insurance policies in the UK including Insurance-Backed warranties for white goods products, After the Event legal expenses insurance, latent defect construction insurance, alloy wheel warranty cover and guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance.
A significant majority of the insurance business underwritten by Elite was reinsured by CBL Insurance Ltd (CBL).
On 4 July 2017, Elite ceased to be authorised to enter into new contracts of insurance or renew existing contracts of insurance.
In November 2018 CBL entered liquidation. This matter - together with continued reserve deterioration experienced in a number of business lines as well as issues with the collection of some of the assets base - has led to Elite becoming balance sheet insolvent.
PwC said the administrators are focused on achieving the best possible result for the creditors. In the meantime policyholders, brokers, intermediaries, agents and coverholders should continue to send correspondence on individual claims or other matters to the offices of Elite.
Dan Schwarzmann, PwC partner and joint administrator of EIC, said: ‘The administrators are in touch with compensation schemes in the UK and across Europe and will provide an update in due course. Please keep referring to our website pwc.co.uk/elite-insurance for further information.’
UK policyholders will be eligible for compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) under their rules. FSCS compensation is applicable to policyholders who are private individuals or small businesses or partnerships.
The administrators said they cannot confirm at this stage the compensation available, if any, to non-UK policyholders. Investigations are ongoing in respect of policyholder protection in other European jurisdictions, particularly France, Italy, Spain and Greece where a significant proportion of the policyholders are located.
