On 9 May 2012, Hertfordshire-based insurance broker, Castle Personal Insurance Brokers Limited went into administration. If you are a customer it is possible that you are not insured. Here we explain what you should do.
It appears that Castle may have sold insurance policies to customers, but did not pass the payment (or premiums) on to the insurance companies. This means the policies would be worthless.
Castle operated from Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead, and its principal broker was Steven Bateman.
What should you do?
If you purchased and paid for a policy through Castle, you should check with your insurer that your policy is valid. If the insurer confirms that your policy is valid, then you need not do anything further.
If your insurer says that your policy is not valid, or if you were in the process of arranging cover with Castle and have not made premium payment, please immediately contact the administrator on 0207 317 9165. The administrator is Harrisons Business Recovery and Insolvency Limited.
30 May 2012 update
The insurers are now contacting the customers that they have identified as having policies which have not been paid for and, therefore, may be cancelled. The insurers may ask these customers to pay the premium again.
If you are a customer of Castle and paid a premium to Castle which was not passed on to the insurer you may be able to make a claim for compensation to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
The FSCS is the UK's compensation fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms. It can pay compensation where a financial services firm authorised by the FSA is unable, or likely to be unable, to meet claims against it. This is usually because it has stopped trading or has been declared ‘in default’. FSCS protection is directed mainly at individuals and small businesses.
FSCS will provide an update on the position on its website once more information becomes available.