The United Kingdom Alternative


Liquidation in the United Kingdom follows a different pattern, with specialists assuming control of an insurance organization and seeking to run it off in the quickest available manner.


Some people out there who do not have guaranty fund protection have not received anything. That’s the basic difference between the U.K. and the U.S.


R. Mark Keenan, Anderson, Kill & Olick


The prime distinction between insurance liquidation in the United States and the United Kingdom is that U.K. liquidations are handled largely by private organizations that specialize in unwinding insurance insolvencies, Mark Keenan said. U.S. insolvencies can follow different paths.


Most U.K. insolvency cases are handled by a relatively small circle of insurance professionals who handle claims, reinsurance collections and policyholder settlements.


“They will work on it and continue for fi ve, six, seven years, trying to get reinsurance collections in,” Keenan said. “They will advise you that, ‘If we get more money in, you’ll get paid more.’”


“It’s probably more expensive because you may have a PriceWaterhouse or something like that doing the work, but it does come out a lot faster. It’s a lot better for policyholders.”


In comparison, liquidations in many U.S. states typically take longer, are less focused and often have less advantageous outcomes for policyholders, Keenan said.


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