Angry ex-Independent Insurance staff met in Manchester this week to discuss the "misinformation" they claim liquidator Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PWC) has been issuing.

The group's organiser, Phil Angus, who was a commercial underwriter with Independent, said up to 75 former staff, mainly from the Cheadle office, attended the meeting on Tuesday.

The group wrote to liquidator Mark Batten on September 16 to question the status of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) statutory redundancy pay.

Angus said redundant staff were given claim forms for the payment before they left the building on June 29. They were told to fill them out and return them to PWC, which would forward them to the DTI.

However, he said no staff had received any payments so far. "We were made false promises and shooed out the door," he said.

Angus also said staff had not received their payment in lieu of notice. They are not eligible for the statutory payment from the DTI, because it does not recognise provisional liquidation, only liquidation.

However, PWC has promised to cover the statutory section of the payment in lieu of notice. Ex-Indie staff will be able to claim the contractual section of the payment in lieu of notice as creditors of Independent.

A DTI spokesman said the department aimed to pay 80% of claims within six weeks of receiving the appropriate information, but would not comment on individual cases.

Batten has agreed to meet a delegation from the meeting to discuss their concerns.

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