Setanta Insurance ("Setanta") was placed into liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority on 30 April 2014. As it was a Maltese incorporated company, the liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law.
The Deputy will be aware that the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2018 (Act 21 of 2018) was enacted in July 2018. The Act inter alia provides for revised arrangements for the on-going administration of the Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF), including for the relevant applications to the President of the High Court.
The most recent tranche of payments to Setanta claimants took place in late November 2018. To date, 670 personal injury claimants have been compensated in full.
The liquidator of Setanta has informed me that since the last application was submitted, a further 125 personal injury claimants have now been agreed and these will be included in the next submission to the Fund bringing the total number of personal injury claimants who have agreed settlements to 795. There are a further 411 personal injury claimants who have yet to settle their claims.
The latest information from the liquidator estimates that the total value of the next tranche will be approximately €7 million.
Currently, no date has yet been fixed for the presentation of the next tranche of payments to the High Court. However, I am informed by the State Claims Agency that the preparatory work will commence shortly with a view to arranging a court date during March which will allow payments to issue by late March or early April.
Finally, it should be noted that the process of settling claims is still ongoing and is subject in some cases to court procedures. The liquidator of Setanta estimates that the process of settling the vast majority of these outstanding claims should be completed by end-2019.
