Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 November 2017
85. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance his plans to publish the actuarial report on the liquidation of a company (detail supplied); the estimate of the number of former policyholders of the company who could be made personally liable for outstanding claims; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49843/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt the outset the Deputy should note that it was the Liquidator who commissioned actuarial consultants, Willis Towers Watson, to carry out an analysis of Setanta Insurance’s claims reserves as at 30 June 2017. The Liquidator sought this report for the purposes of internal management reporting and to assist in determining the potential shortfall in assets available to cover the remaining liabilities as part of the liquidation process. The contents of the report are therefore commercially sensitive and were provided to me solely for the purposes of assessing what the likely shortfall in the amount due to Setanta third party claimants would be. Consequently I am not in a position to publish it.
Estimating the number of former policyholders of the company that could be made personally liable for outstanding claims is complex. This is due to a number of issues, for instance there may be still ongoing disputes around liability between the policyholder and the third party claimant, and in some instances, there may be more than one claim against a single policyholder which means that the active claim figure below may not equate to an equivalent amount of policyholders.
The latest information I have received from the Liquidator is that there are 1,576 active claims and 573 claimants have been paid compensation from the Insurance Compensation Fund subject to the 65%/€825,000 limits. I have been advised that the process of settling claims is still ongoing and is subject in some cases to complex negotiations between all relevant parties. I as Minister for Finance am not party to such negotiations and therefore do not have sight of individual claims, and consequently am not in a position to comment on such matters.
