SRA statement: CBL Insurance Europe dac (CBLIE)
On 26 February 2018, the Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank) announced that CBL Insurance Europe dac (CBLIE) had been placed into provisional administration.
Prior to this the Central Bank had issued a direction to CBLIE instructing it to cease writing any business until further notice.
The Central Bank then made an application to the Irish High Court to have an Administrator appointed to CBLIE. Kieran Wallace of KPMG was appointed as Administrator. This was confirmed on 12 March 2018.
As was the case with a similar situation in 2010, an administration order under Irish legislation does not constitute an ‘insolvency event’ under the SRA Indemnity Rules 2013. There is, therefore, no requirement at this stage for firms insured with CBLIE to seek replacement qualifying insurance within 28 days of an ‘insolvency event’.
The Central Bank has confirmed that existing policyholders in the UK will continue to be covered and have published questions and answers on their website.
Firms whose policies are approaching expiry will need to obtain a new policy of qualifying insurance with another participating insurer.
The direction that CBLIE cannot write any business remains in force and means that existing policies cannot be renewed. This issue is separate from whether there has been an ‘insolvency event’.
We encourage anyone who needs guidance to contact our Professional Ethics helpline.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will advise of any significant developments or change to our view.