Unrated insurer Northern & Western goes bust

Unrated Caribbean insurer Northern & Western Insurance Company has been placed into provisional liquidation by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

Ernst & Young’s Chris Hill and Keiran Hutchison have been appointed provisional liquidators.  

The insurer, based in Saint Kitts and Nevis, wrote supplier failure cover for travel agents in the UK and elsewhere.

The product protects travel agents against the cost of rearranging flights, accommodation and other services if an airline goes bust.

It sold its products in the UK through MGA Guarantees & Bonds and brokers Advantage Financial Services and Rock Insurance.

A 2011 investigation by Insurance Times found that the company had questionable financial strength.

Northern & Western was set up in June 2000 by Devon Harrison. In its early years it traded as a captive insurer and did not start writing third-party insurance until January 2007.