Trade concerns about the integrity of one of the two companies that provide supplier failure insurance to the trade have been dismissed by the firm’s UK representative.
Rumours about Northern & Western Insurance Company (NWIC) centre on a former director and references to the company in US court documents issued against another firm involved in an alleged scam.
NWIC provides supplier failure, airline failure and travel disruption cover through Advantage Travel Centres and Rock Insurance. It stepped in when AmTrust (formerly IGI) pulled out of the market in August.
The company, registered in Caribbean tax haven Nevis, is based in Texas. Its general agent in the UK, Philip Radley, specialises in offering cover that bigger underwriters consider too small, too low-margin or too risky.
He said: “NWIC is new to travel, but has been in the UK market six to seven years, mainly in construction.”
The company is awaiting an assessment by credit-rating firm Fitch and seeking a licence in Malta allowing it to operate more widely in Europe.
Its most recent accounts are unavailable as they are being audited, but Radley said the accounts and licence should be in place by the end of the year.
David Sharp, Advantage financial services director, said he was confident about the probity of NWIC, owned by wealthy US couple Devon and Rob Harrison.
Radley rejected suggestions NWIC, being based outside UK regulatory framework, might fail to pay future claims, insisting the accounts would show it paid out $8 million last year. “NWIC is going to be a serious player in the UK,” he added.
Sharp said policies such as those provided by NWIC were essential for agents dynamically packaging.