Edward William/Northernreef Insurance - Advice

[JumbleDuck]

However, the OP is not alone: many people have received similar letters, which suggests that Northernreef has genuinely ceased trading. Whether due to insolvency or just taking an opportune moment to scarper before the recession takes holt, that remains to be seen.

Was Northernreef ever trading - ie providing insurance - in the first place or is this just another stage in a scam?

 

[Beth aka Lady Anne]

In answer to your questions:

1. Edward William is not an authorised broker.

2. Similarly, Northern Reef is not registered with the Spanish regulator. This is part of the web site of Direccion General de Seguros, courtesy of Google tranlate:

The Regulation and Supervision of Private Insurance (1) provides that the Direccion General de Seguros can agree advertising it deems necessary for public information in the course of entities conducting insurance business without obtaining the mandatory administrative authorization.

Furthermore, in order to better protect customers of insurance services, the need to publicize the activities carried out by entities established in other Member States of the European Economic Area, which by its name or by unclear arises definition of the operations they perform, they can mislead those with whom they hire, giving an appearance of insurer or insurance broker individuals or companies insurance brokerage even when it comes to entities not engaged in these activities.

Considering the above and taking into account the information received from the supervisory bodies of the respective States, the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds has agreed to publish:

CAVEAT:I. ENTITIES REGISTERED OR NOT AUTHORIZED TO OPERATE IN SPAIN AS UNDERWRITERS.
The following legal entities are not authorized as insurance companies, nor can pursue that activity in Spain under the freedom to provide services from another Member State of the European Economic Area, or under the right of establishment through a branch in Spain (2) :

CAPITAL GROUP, SA
ALBATROSS INVEST SPA
BRITISH AMERICAN INSURANCE Ltd.
SPANISH ASSOCIATION OF ARBITRATION COURT COARBI INSTITUTIONAL
SPANISH ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC ARBITRATION COURT OF LAW AND EQUITY
SPANISH ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT
PROMOTER SPANISH ASSOCIATION OF ARBITRATION COURT
BARKLEY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (no link or relationship with WR BERKLEY INSURANCE (EUROPE) LIMITED SUC. IN SPAIN, which is authorized insurer)
CARE COVERAGE SPORTS SL
COMPAGNIE DES Garanties DE LUXEMBOURG SA / COMPAGNIE
CORSA FINANCE LTD
DES Garanties, SA-COMPAGNIA DI CAUZIONI, SA-CAUZIONI, SA
DIMAX, DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM, SL
EUROCAUCIÓN Levante SL
EUROCAUCIÓN SL
EUROPA CAUZIONI, SpA
GUARANTEE OF EUROPEAN COMPANY LTD
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE CABINET OF SPORTS
GENERAL WARRANTY FIDI FIDI CONSORTIUM
@ REINSURANCE BROKERS INSURANCE GRAVITELL SL
GRAVITELL LIMITED
HENRY MORTIMER PLC
HUGIES ROYAL FINANCE CORPORATION
IBERSHAMROCK SL
INKORE
ITALFINANZIARIA SpA
LAUREN'S INSURANCE, Ltd.
LOPEZ INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE INSURANCE COMPANY
MEMORIAL FUNERAL INTERNATIONAL SL
MERRION REINSURANCE COMPANY, Ltd.
MINOS SPA
MUTUELLE DE STRASBOURG
MUTUELLE INTERNAZIONALE D'ASSURANCES LA PARISIENNE
NORTHERNREEF INSURANCE COMPANY
SECURE CONSTRUCTION LIMITED
NOVA INSURANCE
OVERSEAS PROPERTIES SHAMROCK LIMITEDv
SUNNY LUCKY INSURANCE
SWISS FINANCIAL CORPORATION
SWISSCARE SALES PARTNER
TEMPLETON INSURANCE LTD
TOP CLASS INSURANCE
UNION GENERAL SECURITIES SA

Similarly, none of the major credit rating agencies recognise Northernreef for Financial Strength or Credit Rating.

3. Problem of jurisdiction arises. Although based in Spain, EW / Northernreef do not seem to have any Spanish customers. Similarly, they no longer advertise in UK, relying entirely on internet sales, and thus operate outside the scope of the FCA.

4. Northernreef and EW are under the same ownership: as far as i can tell, EW placed all insurance with Northernreef. Not a legal eagle, but to my mind, even if the insurance was genuine, any "broker's fee" would be effectively fraud when the two companies are so closely related. However, the OP is not alone: many people have received similar letters, which suggests that Northernreef has genuinely ceased trading. Whether due to insolvency or just taking an opportune moment to scarper before the recession takes holt, that remains to be seen.
There is a Facebook group for those affected by the failure of the underwriter, 46 members and counting: click on Northern Reef mess

Norther Reef Mess admin is a fella called Nathan Skinner, any relation to Malcolm Skinner??

 

[Beth aka Lady Anne]

Just buy insurance from a real insurance company and thank your lucky stars that you never had to make a claim before.

I am just putting it down as a loss Jumble Duck but is going to cost me a few quid to get it surveyed but at least I will have peace of mind

 

[ashtead]

When you have fraudulent brokers in uk taking premium and not arranging cover with a bona fide insurer the city of London police take 3 years to investigate and eventually prosecute but no real benefit to insureds . What would be useful to know is whether any IPT was ever paid?
Curious no prosecution by the regulator though if this has been ongoing for so long . You would have thought they would have been shut done before now if fraudulent?

 

[Old Harry]

Everyone is presuming that the OP was insured comprehensively. It could have just been 3rd party insurance, so comments about a shock if needing to make a claim don't really come into it.

It could also be that the OP is sailing their boat outside of the EU (this forum is very uk weekend sailing based and opinions tend to reflect that useage).

That makes UK insurance difficult to get especially so if the OP's boat isn't valued over £100,000 or is 30 years old or more.



Spain would have their own system. Nothing in the UK is applicable. As for storms in Mallorca. I never understand why people think it's a good idea to spend the winter there. Every year there are multiple boats washed up on the beach in Soller. Pontoons breaking away from the marinas in Palma and so on. Wonderful place, but not the most secure during winter.

It would it the insurer would`nt pay & the other party came after the OP for recompense

 

[Sandyshore]

There has been many submissions on this forum and within the boating media on Edward William and Northern Reef over the years.
The FSCS does not apply to marine insurance ,no point in going that route. So , it looks as if a new insurance policy will have to be purchased and probably quickly if your mooring/marina/club terms require this as a contractual obligation.
Check out all the main insurers such as HKJ, Navigators,Nautical, GJW. Y as an agent of HKJ have already been mentioned .

 

[Sbersanti]

There has been many submissions on this forum and within the boating media on Edward William and Northern Reef over the years.
The FSCS does not apply to marine insurance ,no point in going that route. So , it looks as if a new insurance policy will have to be purchased and probably quickly if your mooring/marina/club terms require this as a contractual obligation.
Check out all the main insurers such as HKJ, Navigators,Nautical, GJW. Y as an agent of HKJ have already been mentioned .

There seems to be some suggestion that the insurer (if it existed at all) was based in Uruguay, so good luck with finding and claiming on a Urugayan compensation scheme. Edward William seem to have connections with Spain and the UK so you never know, you might do better there. So if they acted on your behalf in the UK or Spain it might be worth looking into.

Also I'm not clear whether unsatisfied customers of EW were under the impression that EW was itself an insurer, or whether they were just acting for the customers as brokers. If the latter, it isn't difficult to imagine that EW will throw up its hands and say 'We did our best for you. You can't blame us that the excellent (though South American) insurer we found for you went out of business'. Not an impressive argument, but another hurdle for customers to overcome.

It's easy for me to say, but if all I'd lost was the premium, I'd put it down to experience, resolve never to deal with unregulated operators again, take out good insurance and get on with my life.

We lost our boat 3.11.2020....they are ignoring us(ED and NR) look iij ng for solutions...any ideas?

 

[dombuckley]

We lost our boat 3.11.2020....they are ignoring us(ED and NR) look iij ng for solutions...any ideas?

I'm sorry for your loss. However, as Northernreef has ceased trading (such as it ever was, as it was not registered to operate as an underwriter), there is very little chance of recovering any moneyfrom them. There is a Facebook group who are all in the same position as you: "Northern Reef mess".

Best of luck.

 

[ashtead]

The one thing I don’t know is why the Spanish regulator took no action to investigate and shut them down years ago ?

 

[JumbleDuck]

The one thing I don’t know is why the Spanish regulator took no action to investigate and shut them down years ago ?

Didn't someone say it's because they don't deal with people in Spain?

 

[ashtead]

If you set up in Ireland without authorisation and sell on a FOS basis to English customers the FCA will call upon the CBI to do something -don’t think different rules apply so far as Spain is concerned. I guess in the past someone has complained to the regulator about this broker so have they failed in their supervisor duties I wonder.

 

[duncan99210]

The brokerage is based in Spain, selling policies underwritten by a company based in Uruguay. The main market seems to have been people outside of Spain. It’s a real possibility that there have been no complaints made to the Spanish authorities about the brokerage due to the language barrier. In addition, there a strong possibility that the brokerage isn’t properly registered with the Spanish regulator thus further muddying the waters. And good luck chasing a claim via the Uruguay courts.

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

The brokerage is based in Spain, selling policies underwritten by a company based in Uruguay. The main market seems to have been people outside of Spain. It’s a real possibility that there have been no complaints made to the Spanish authorities about the brokerage due to the language barrier. In addition, there a strong possibility that the brokerage isn’t properly registered with the Spanish regulator thus further muddying the waters. And good luck chasing a claim via the Uruguay courts.

I've got a feeling that although it may theoretically be based in Spain there's a strong Norfolk connection. From a little web reading there's not only a high number of customers based there but also an agent in the area, and it was also said that representatives of EW attended a function there.

I could be wrong, but my gut feeling is that it's run by someone quite clever - technically offshore, exploits the need for 'any cover' needed for ports and marinas, similarly for old conventionally uninsurable boats, pays out on some small claims (apparently) but walks away from the big ones.

 

[PSA]

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

 

[PSA]

Hi there,

we got the same email on 1st May. We didn’t respond - mainly because we were so surprised and very busy at the time. We have just received our regular premium request. Until now, had no idea that they were dodgy, we thought the May letter must have been a scam. We have never had to make a claim, thank goodness.

 

[Mikedefieslife]

If you paid by credit card which you should be doing for things like this, it's worth contacting them so you make a claim under Section 75.

 

[PSA]

If you paid by credit card which you should be doing for things like this, it's worth contacting them so you make a claim under Section 75.

We didn’t pay the scam account letter (or what we thought was a scam. The last payment we made was the yearly premium in 2019. We won’t be paying again. Ironically we only got the insurance because where we live you cannot slip the boat with comprehensive insurance, so in a way the cheap insurance did its job. But had we had any third party issues from our boat getting away from its mooring (unlikely) we would have been in deep do do. Can’t believe we didn’t check harder, but was recommended by a friend - who obviously didn’t check either.

 

[sarabande]

Is it worth writing to the BBC Watchdog program if there is a a UK connection (? Norfolk) ?

 

[Pete7]

On their website this morning:

"Northernreef Insurance Co SA are extremely pleased to announce that we have received a last minute reprieve and rescue package and will continue to offer the best coverage for you and your vessel"

Well that is alright then

I just renewed with Pants

 

[emandvee44]

QCR Autumn 2019: McKeever V Northernreef Insurance Co Sa

Read this judgement and then decide if you would insure with them.

I wonder if the plaintiffs got a payout? (As many of us know, getting a judgement is one thing, enforcement is another).

M.