Edward William/Northernreef Insurance - Advice

JeannieJouet

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We have insured our cruiser through Edward William for the last few years.

Yesterday we received the following email:

Thank you for your trust and valued business in allowing Edward William SL to obtain coverage for your vessel.
It is with regret that we must inform you that the Insurer your business was placed with has ceased trading. This means that your policy coverage with them is no longer valid.

Fortunately, we have been able to find an alternative carrier who will continue your coverage on Policy EW xxxx until renewal at a discounted additional premium of just £ 253.75

Regarding the premium you have paid for your Northernreef policy, it is too soon to provide you with any accurate commentary. It will be a few months before matters become clear with regards existing claims and unearned premium.

Are they able to do this? Is anyone familiar with this other company? Looking online and some posts seem to suggest Edward William owned Nothernreef but quite how much truth lies in this I do not know.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you
 

Graham376

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I don't know the legal position regarding claims against brokers and underwriters but have heard warnings about this company in the past. It appears from what you say that unless you accept their offer you are uninsured at the moment so need to act quickly. Have they named the new underwriter? My inclination would be to shop around and as said above, Y Yacht is the choice for many of us. You may of course have to have a survey done when changing insurers.
 

sarabande

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I second the previous posts.

Do have a look at the details of the EW policy. with ION.

This is from another forum.

"
an email from Edward William's office in Spain "Thank you for your e-mail and confirm it would be ourselves you deal with on the below telephone numbers or e-mail address, Womack Staithe is our UK postal service."

No mention of a UK broker. I'll stick with what I know. What others do is entirely up to them. The information is out there.

From the Financial Conduct Authority’s web site

"Firms that promote, sell or provide insurance in the UK must be authorised by us. If you are contacted by an unauthorised insurance firm or broker you should report it to us..."

Edward William is not so authorised."

The red link takes you to the UK Financial Conduct Authority

Looks like a duck,,,,
 

JumbleDuck

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"Thank you for your trust and valued business in allowing Edward William SL to obtain coverage for your vessel.
It is with regret that we must inform you that the Insurer your business was placed with has ceased trading. This means that your policy coverage with them is no longer valid."
As I recall, "Edward William" was the same company as the supposed "broker" providing their so-called "insurance" policies. Count yourself lucky that you never needed to make a claim and find a real insurance company.
 

anoccasionalyachtsman

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I don't know the legal position regarding claims against brokers and underwriters but have heard warnings about this company in the past. It appears from what you say that unless you accept their offer you are uninsured at the moment so need to act quickly. Have they named the new underwriter? My inclination would be to shop around and as said above, Y Yacht is the choice for many of us. You may of course have to have a survey done when changing insurers.
I think the OP has probably not been insured from day 1.
 

jbweston

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. . .

Fortunately, we have been able to find an alternative carrier who will continue your coverage on Policy EW xxxx until renewal at a discounted additional premium of just £ 253.75

. . .

Are they able to do this? Is anyone familiar with this other company? Looking online and some posts seem to suggest Edward William owned Nothernreef but quite how much truth lies in this I do not know.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

Why don't you just go to a reputable broker for quotes for a new policy from reputable companies? Is there some reason you want to go on dealing with Edward William or need a policy for a period only up to the old renewal date? A good broker will have you insured reliably in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

Don't Edward William tell you who this new insurer is? If it's a real insurance company then you need to decide (a) whether you want to place your business with them (if real, what is their substance and reputation?) and (b) whether Edward William can be trusted to have found you cover suitable for your needs and, if you go ahead, actually to effect that cover for you with the company.

In the light of other comments, you might want to do your research and think very carefully indeed before answering (b).
 

pcatterall

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Mainly because the outfit is based in Spain but markets to clients outside of Spain. Therefore in all probability no complaints to the Spanish authorities, therefore no action against the broker.
I guess so but wouldn't some of the aggrieved parties have taken action?
In the uk could a broker just say " sorry the company we put your insurance with has gone bust"? would the broker not be responsible?
 

Mistroma

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I thought the name rang a bell as soon as I saw it. Pretty safe bet that OP never had any actual insurance.

It is amazing how long it seems to have been going on. I wonder if Peter Telford made any progress suing them? I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a great success, even though he was a Barrister and a Judge.

I also use Y Yachts and would suggest OP contacts them for a quote. No link with that company, just a customer for many years.
 

emandvee44

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I have always been insured on the London market. Currently with the Amlin Syndicate through Y yacht insurance.
Apart from the large amount of information on the internet warning people to stay away, would you really think that an Insurance Company (underwriter) in Montevideo could be relied upon to settle claims?
Northern Reef website has disappeared. It would be interesting to know which Insurance Company EW is offering cover from?
M.
 

Mistroma

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I have always been insured on the London market. Currently with the Amlin Syndicate through Y yacht insurance.
Apart from the large amount of information on the internet warning people to stay away, would you really think that an Insurance Company (underwriter) in Montevideo could be relied upon to settle claims?
Northern Reef website has disappeared. It would be interesting to know which Insurance Company EW is offering cover from?
M.

Yes, I noticed that northernreef.com was "under construction" and last activity I found was around the end of August last year. I see that the domain name was first registered in 2005 and isn't due for renewal until 2021 . I think that it did change hands, perhaps 2007 onwards.

I'm guessing that the owner has taken it down for maintenance work (i.e. till things blow over) and it will pop up again to catch the unwary. I think that the insurance site has been around since at least 2015. Flabbergasted that they don't even bother to change the name from time to time.

Similar situation with northernreef.net which is also "under construction".:D

I also noticed that EdwardWilliam.com was first registered a little earlier than the NorthernReef ones and all three share the same IP location in Maidenhead (Eukhost Ltd). Just a coincidence of course.


Financial Conduct Authority give Edward William Marine Services a mention here (Ooops, just noticed that this was already covered by second link in post #5).
 
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