Enterprise Insurance liquidator warns policyholders to move

The provisional liquidator of Enterprise Insurance, the Gibraltar-based company which collapsed in July affecting 14,000 Irish customers, has warned those who have not sought alternative cover to do so by the end of October.

It is understood, however, that most Irish drivers who were insured by Enterprise moved policies quickly. Wrightway Insurance, a Wexford-based underwriting agency that wrote business in Ireland through brokers on Enterprise’s behalf, moved after the Gibraltar company’s implosion to refund outstanding premiums.

The provisional liquidator, Frederick White, managing director with Grant Thornton in Gibraltar, said on Friday that he had written to insurance brokers to advise he intends to terminate all Enterprise policies on October 26th. The company also wrote business in the UK, France, Italy, Greece and Norway.

Gibraltar court

Mr White said he will also recommend to the supreme court in Gibraltar, on the same date, that a liquidator be appointed to Enterprise. He told The Irish Times in July that the company had 255 Irish claims on its books as of June, with an estimated cost of €6.2 million.

Gibraltar does not have an insurance compensation fund. While Mr White has been in contact with the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland as well as compensation schemes in other countries, Irish bodies are not in a position to deal with any cases ahead of a key Supreme Court appeal on who will ultimately pick up the tab from Malta-based Setanta Insurance's collapse in 2014, with €90 million of outstanding claims.

Gibraltar’s supreme court was told in July that Enterprise was “hopelessly insolvent” with an asset shortfall of at least £18 million (€21m).