Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 March 2017
125. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Finance when he expects payments to be made to persons as a result of the liquidation of a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14929/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am unable at this time to provide the Deputy with an exact timeframe as to when payments will be made to persons as a result of the liquidation of Setanta.
Setanta was placed into liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority on 30 April 2014. Setanta is a Maltese incorporated company and therefore, the Setanta liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law. The most recent figures received by the Department of Finance from the Liquidator for Setanta is that the number of open claims is 1,650.
Progress in the liquidation has been delayed due to court proceedings in the case of Law Society of Ireland v the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI). The current position is that we are awaiting the outcome of MIBI's appeal to the High Court ruling, which was heard before the Supreme Court in October 2016. No date has been specified for the judgment.
It should be noted that prior to the commencement of this court case, the Insurance Compensation Fund would have met the third party claims up to a limit of 65% and a ceiling of €825,000 per claimant. However, if the High Court ruling is upheld then MIBI will compensate third parties fully up to a limit of €1,220,000 per claim for property, regardless of the number of claimants, with no cap on payments for personal injury claims.
A small number of additional claims are not affected by the court proceedings and are being processed by the Office of the Accountant of the Courts of Justice due to the fact that they are 1st party claims and come unambiguously within the remit of the Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF). In relation to these policyholders, the cap of 65% applies and in total payments of €608,085 have been made to date to such Setanta policyholders.
3rd party motor insurance claims are unlikely to be processed until after the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal.
The Liquidator for Setanta has informed me that:
- Claims provision required stands at between €87.7 million and €95.2 million.
- Setanta policies were cancelled in May 2014. The 2 years allowable under the statute of limitation to lodge claims has expired so the claims figures will not increase further.
- The Liquidator reports that it is proving difficult to settle claims in advance of the outcome of the MIBI appeal.
- The Liquidator continues to be of the view that he will not be in a position to meet more than 30% of claims.
I expect to be able to provide a more accurate update after the legal proceedings are concluded.
