Simon Burgess, the Dennis the Menace of the insurance world who found fame offering alien abduction cover, has come unstuck with his latest wheeze.
Lloyd's may take legal action against Burgess, Grip managing director, after accusing him of bad faith in an internet deal.
Two weeks ago (August 3, 2000 issue of Insurance Times), Burgess bragged he had sold the domain name lloyds-insurance.net to the bank Lloyds TSB for £1,000, claiming 400% profit on the sale.
But the news infuriated the Lloyd's insurance market's legal department, which claimed to have previously agreed to buy the name from Burgess for £27.
Lloyd's immediately contacted Lloyds TSB, which, to their relief, denied that it had bought the domain name. Burgess later admitted that he was only in advanced negotiation with the bank.
Meanwhile, Michael Connor from Lloyd's legal department wrote to Burgess: “If the content of this article is correct, it would appear to be further evidence, if any were needed, of your bad faith in relation to this domain name.”
But Burgess remains defiant: “I told Michael Connor that if he is going to accuse me of bad faith, then he might as well sue me.”
He also said he would never sell the domain name to Lloyd's.
Connor refused to comment, but a spokesman said Lloyd's was “considering” legal action.
