Pressure mounted this week on brokers who sold Arab German Insurance (AGI) policies to UK businesses as the Jordan-based insurer continues to refuse to pay claims.
AGI wrote to businesses with outstanding claims over two weeks ago offering a final settlement figure of between 30% and 50% of what is owed to them.
But although a large proportion are understood to have signed and returned a form of acceptance, the insurer has failed to forward the money to UK claims handler Adjusting Associates at the time of going to press.
One broker, who has 25 clients affected by AGI's actions, said: "Several of our customers accepted a significantly reduced sum because they were sick and tired of waiting. We forwarded details to Adjusting Associates who promised payment last week. We are still waiting."
Grant Ellis, chief executive of The Broker Network, said: "I am bitterly disappointed but not surprised. Everything AGI has done until now suggests it will avoid paying at all."
He added: "One has to question whether this is a deliberate and orchestrated campaign to gradually whittle down people's resistance."
Questions have been raised over how effectively brokers communicated to clients the risk of placing cover with a non-regulated, offshore insurer, and how effectively that message was relayed by wholesale brokers and agents to retail brokers in the first place.
Ellis said: "These companies need to take a long, hard look at the health warnings they gave brokers in the run-up to this."
A spokesman for Adjusting Associates said: "We are confident the money from AGI will be forthcoming this week."
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