Qudos

What’s happened?

It was announced on the 20th December 2018 that Qudos Insurance A/S (“Qudos”) had entered into an insolvent liquidation. This means that Qudos may not have sufficient funds to meet their insurance liabilities.

Who’s Who

Qudos Insurance A/S

Qudos Insurance A/S, is a Danish based insurance firm subject to prudential supervision by the Danish Financial Supervision Authority (DFSA). Qudos sold non-life insurance policies on a pan-European basis and in Ireland via Patrona Underwriting Limited. The products were distributed through the Irish broker network on a freedom of service basis and provided insurance cover for Van, Fleet, Haulage, Household and non-standard Motor policies. For further information on Qudos Insurance A/S please refer to www.qudosinsurance.dk

Patrona Underwriting Limited (“Patrona”)

Patrona Underwriting Limited is an insurance intermediary which provides back office functionality, Underwriting and Claims Management Services to 15 insurance and reinsurance companies in Ireland including services for Qudos. Patrona only deals with insurance companies and brokers, it does not arrange insurance directly with policyholders. Patrona is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my Policy impacted by the Qudos Liquidation

Qudos were historically involved as an Insurer on the following Product Lines: -

All other Product Lines remain unaffected.

All Brokers have been provided with an option to transfer Qudos policies to an alternative Insurer at no cost to policyholders. 99% of our Broker panel have chosen this option, if you have not heard from your Broker we would recommend you phone them for clarification.

I have an existing claim will it be paid?

Your claim will be handled and administered in the normal manner however, we currently will not be able to make any offer of settlement until further instruction is received from the Bankruptcy Estate. If you have already been made an offer of settlement this will be passed to the Bankruptcy Estate for consideration.

You have already made me an offer, will I be paid?

Regrettably no, your claim requires to be passed to the Bankruptcy Estate for consideration.

You told me that settlement was being processed?

Settlement offers were made in good faith however, due to the current stated position of the Liquidator we were prohibited from issuing payments. Your claim will be passed to the Bankruptcy Estate.

If my claim is valid when can I expect to be paid?

The Bankruptcy Estate has not given us a time commitment. We expect there will be significant delays in the payment of your claim however, we will issue you updates when we receive them from the Bankruptcy Estate.

Will the Danish Guarantee Fund provide compensation?

Compensation from the Bankruptcy Estate is subject to considerable uncertainty. Once the formal Bankruptcy adjudication and distribution is determined at the closing of the Bankruptcy Estate then, the Danish Guarantee Fund may provide compensation for claims that have not been covered.

How long will it be for the Bankruptcy adjudication and distribution to be finalised

We have no time commitments from the Bankruptcy Estate in this regard and it would be unfair of us to give you a commitment. We expect that there will be significant delays and you need to be aware that compensation from the Bankruptcy Estate is subject to considerable uncertainty.

I am a service provider to Patrona – will I be paid?

You will be paid as normal for non Qudos claims. As explained above, we are not in a position to confirm payment on any Qudos claims.

I am not happy with what you have told me, what are my options?

We are sorry you feel this way and appreciate that this is a stressful time for you. We are unfortunately not in a position to progress any claims matters until we receive further instruction from the Bankruptcy Estate. We will endeavour to keep you informed as to any developments however, you should expect that there will be significant delays regarding any settlement. Should you remain dissatisfied with our response then please contact us at customerservices@patrona.ie or through the Customer Feedback Form on our website and we will endeavour to address your concerns.

We remain committed to keeping you up to date, once new information become available we will refresh this page.

Contact Details

If you remain unsure as to whether your policy is with Qudos Insurance A/S then please contact your Broker who will be able to advise you.

If you have a claim which you believe is impacted by the Qudos insolvent liquidation please contact us on the dedicated Qudos Claims phone line which is 053 9180347 and a member of the Qudos Claims Team will assist with your queries.

We will continue to provide updates as the situation develops and information on this page will be refreshed as necessary.

The rules relating to the liability of the Danish Guarantee Fund changes come into effect in Denmark on the 1st January 2019, this is following legislation in Denmark which was passed in 1st May 2018. We were instructed by our Danish insurance capacity provider Qudos on 23rd August 2018 to inform our clients of same which we duly carried out.

As Qudos Insurance A/S remains in solvent liquidation, currently we are not in a position to approach the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority at this time, however we have written to Minister Michael D’Arcy Minister of State at the Department of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform on the 7th December 2018 on the matter, pointing out our concerns at the lack of engagement of the Liquidators and the possibility that liabilities for refunds/claims could potentially be transferred to the Irish compensation fund in the event that Qudos enter into full bankruptcy post 1st January 2019. We have also expressed this concern to the Central Bank of Ireland.

We have appointed a Danish Law Firm to protect our interests during the liquidation process. We have instructed them specifically to write to the Liquidators informing them that should they trade Qudos in solvent run-off and it is subsequently discovered that the company was in fact insolvent, we will be seeking damages directly from the Liquidators and the Members of Company, in the event any of loss incurred directly by us or on behalf of our policyholders which would otherwise have been recoverable had bankruptcy been declared in a timely fashion.

A recent statement made by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority would indicate that the authorities are already aware that Qudos is not in a position to meet its liabilities and we have instructed the Liquidator to take note of these comments.

We have pointed out to the Liquidator that Qudos does not appear to be currently running in a solvent manner given that it is neither paying claims or returning premiums, and we have expressed the opinion that Qudos is in essence acting as a defacto bankrupt company.

Policies remain valid and in force until their natural expiry date, however given the Qudos current position and in line with Central Bank of Ireland recommendations we have provided Brokers with options to replace all insurance covers with other providers.

This solution includes:-

The solutions as outlined above and communicated to Brokers are designed to provide minimal disruption to the 50,000 policyholders throughout this process.

Please contact your insurance Broker for further information.

Dear Broker,

Qudos continues in solvent run-off, all policies remain valid.

We confirm the following updates from Qudos in relation to their solvent liquidation – please refer to link for full update - http://www.qudosinsurance.dk/liquidation/

Appointment of Liquidator

As per Qudos insurance website the Liquidators have officially been appointed namely:-

Q&A

Although all of the above points are important we would specifically bring your attention to the following:-

Point 1 Qudos Insurance has filed for solvent liquidation

Point 3 Policies remain valid until natural expiry or until 27th November 2019, whichever is the soonest

Point 4 Claims should continue to be reported in line with policy terms and conditions.

Point 6 We note that the Liquidators have expressed suspension of claims payments for a period of 1 – 2 weeks. We have not been notified of this development by the Liquidators, nor do we have any further information in this regard as the Liquidator has not started to engage in day- to-day business activities.

We can only assume that the Liquidators are in the process of assessing their position at this time, we will continue to keep you updated as we receive further information.

Dear Broker

Thank you for your patience to date, we wish to update you on the current status.

The Liquidator has not been officially appointed by the Court as yet, this has resulted in communication delays from Qudos. We expect this to be resolved in the next couple of days, however until the appointee is officially in place we are restricted from concluding some of the arrangements that we have been working on with other parties.

We have secured a number of solutions which ensure protection of client premiums and policy covers. We plan to take individual product lines separately, these will be released as each is completed and we expect to be in a position to update you with further information over the next few days.

We thank you for your support and will continue to remain in regular communication with you. All updates will be posted on our website as they are received.

We will be in contact with you as soon as we are in a position to update you further.

Yours Sincerely

Tony Wright

Who’s who?

Qudos Insurance A/S (“Qudos”), is a Danish based insurance firm subject to prudential supervision by the Danish Financial Supervision Authority (DFSA). Qudos sold non-life insurance policies on a pan-European basis and in Ireland via Patrona Underwriting Limited. The products were distributed through the Irish broker network on a freedom of service basis and provided insurance cover for Van, Fleet, Haulage, Household and non-standard Motor policies. For further information on Qudos Insurance A/S please refer to www.qudosinsurance.dk

New Nordic Odin Denmark ApS (“New Nordic”)

The ultimate owner of Qudos is a Danish investment fund who completed the purchase of all shares previously owned by the listed Canadian company Echelon Financial Holdings Inc (“Echelon”) on the 7th March 2017. With this purchase New Nordic acquired control of QIC Holdings Inc and its wholly-owned Subsidiary, Qudos Insurance A/S. For further information on New Nordic please refer to https://newnordicadvisors.com/.

Danish Financial Supervision Authority (“DFSA”)

DFSA are the regulatory body responsible for supervision of financial services in Denmark including insurance firms. The DFSA is responsible for supervision of the financial institutions including supervision of insurance entity solvency and the provision of consumer protections including the Danish Guarantee Fund. For further information on the Danish Financial Supervision Authority please refer to https://www.finanstilsynet.dk/

Patrona Underwriting Limited (“Patrona”)

Patrona Underwriting Limited is an insurance intermediary which provides back office functionality, Underwriting and Claims Management Services to 15 insurance and reinsurance companies in Ireland including services for Qudos. Patrona only deals with insurance companies and brokers, it does not arrange insurance directly with policyholders. Patrona is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

DARAG Group

DARAG Group are a German regulated insurance run-off specialist who has recently acquired the legacy claims book of Qudos. For further information please refer to http://darag-group.com

What is a solvent liquidation?

Solvent liquidation is when an entity has sufficient assets to cover the entirety of its liabilities. It would be expected that policies would run to their natural expiry, all claims would be honoured and all liabilities would be cleared in their entirety. Any surplus remaining on completion of the liquidation would be distributed to the shareholders of the entity.

What has happened to Qudos?

On the 4th October 2018, Qudos released a statement (Solvency and Financial Condition Report) which reflected a Solvency Capital Requirement (“SCR”) score of 122% which met the Solvency Requirements under Solvency II. For a copy of the Report please refer to http://www.qudosinsurance.dk/qic-holdings-interim-report-h1-2018-and-qudos-insurance-as-interim-report-h1-2018/

On the 18th October 2018, Qudos announced that they would be ceasing to write new and renewal business with immediate effect. New Nordic stated within the Press Release that they were involved in substantial restructure of the business and expected to re-enter the market once this restructure was completed. For details of this Press Release please refer to http://www.qudosinsurance.dk/press-release-new-nordic-advisors-subsidiary-qudos-insurance-suspends-live-underwriting/

On the 23rd November 2018 Qudos confirmed that they had agreed terms with Darag (a claims run-off specialist) to manage and transfer legacy claims on the Qudos portfolio for all previous years up to June 2017 (we have been advised that this significantly improves the Solvency Ratio), with the portfolio period from July 2017 to 19th October 2018 still being negotiated. Based on the most recent assertions of New Nordic/Qudos, we understand that these negotiations are still continuing to progress.

On the 27th November 2018, New Nordic announced that they had decided to bring Qudos into solvent liquidation following a review of Qudos situation. Qudos has filed a claim against the former owner, Canadian Echelon, alleging misinformation, lack of disclosure of essential information and other irregularities in the trade of Qudos one and a half years ago. Legal action has also been instigated by New Nordic against the audit company PwC. The company continues to seek solutions for investors, policyholders and the Regulator. The company has stated that it expects to run a solvent run-off of the business. For details of this Press Release please refer to http://www.qudosinsurance.dk/qudos-insurance-as-goes-into-solvent-liquidation/ .

Qudos Insurance A/S have informed us that following a comprehensive review by its owner, New Nordic, the decision has been made to place Qudos permanently into run-off and to liquidate the remaining assets. New Nordic/Qudos have affirmed that Qudos remains solvent and that all existing policies will “run-out to the end” and remain in force. We have been advised that Qudos will continue to be able to meet their obligations to policyholders.

Terms have been agreed with Darag (a claims run-off specialist) to manage and transfer legacy and claims handling on the Qudos portfolio for all periods up to June 2017 (we have been advised that this significantly improves the Solvency Ratio), with the portfolio period July 2017 to 19th October 2018 being negotiated. Based on the most recent assertions of New Nordic/Qudos, we understand that these negotiations are continuing to progress positively.

Owing to the assurances of New Nordic/Qudos we do not envisage that Qudos Insurance A/S policyholders placed via Patrona will be detrimentally impacted by this development.

We will continue to provide updates on developments as and when they occur.