Royal & SunAlliance has overcome an attempt by policyholders to stall approval of the sale of its US unit.

In a ruling issued late last night, a group of policyholders were denied their motion to intervene in the proceedings and delay the date of January 19, 2007 for a public hearing to decide whether to agree to authorise the deal.

RSA's bid to offload its troubled US operation had already been held up when the initial hearing officer stepped down in late November after policyholders complained the law firm she worked for had acted for R&SA in the past.

Although the legal problems have prevented R&SA completing the deal before the end of the calendar year, the insurer said it hopes to have concluded the sale before it has finished its 2006 financial accounts.

"We are still hopeful the US sale will be concluded in the 2006 financial year in terms of our reporting," an RSA spokesman said.