Independent arm sold for £3m
Liquidators from PricewaterhouseCoopers have negotiated the sale of the loss adjusting arm of Independent Insurance.
Property and Casualty Services has been sold to the Royal & SunAlliance for about Pounds 3m. The deal will save 300 claims adjusters’ jobs at PCS and means there will be no break in the claims handling process for policyholders. Previously RSA agreed to assume 250,000 council tenant policies from Independent.
Independent entered voluntary liquidation last month following the decision to suspend its shares and the resignation of former chief executive Michael Bright the previous week.
Speculation mounted over the state of the company after external actuaries from Watson Wyatt found large claims had not been entered into the insurer’s accounting system. Liquidators were appointed after the company stopped writing new business.
Mark Batten of PwC’s insurance restructuring practice, said: ‘We achieved a fair value for the business, and we have avoided wholesale redundancy for the PCS staff.
‘We have secured going forward a good quality claims handling process for policyholders. As part of the deal, R&SA will continue the adjustment of existing Independent claims at a discounted cost, a move that will undoubtedly assist us as the whole liquidation process continues to unfold.’
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