Frequently Asked Questions

What is happening and when?
Patrona Flexi Car Private Motor policies are changing provider from a co-insurance arrangement between Qudos and Gefion, to a conventional arrangement with Alwyn.  This change will affect all policies incepted or renewed effective 1st December 2016.  Patrona will continue to deal with policies as normal.

Who are Alwyn?
Alwyn are based in Gibraltar and are regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. Alwyn are 100% owned by Arch Re, a large Bermudan-based reinsurer with A ratings from the leading ratings agencies.

Why are Patrona moving to Alwyn?
This arrangement brings more capital to the Irish market, so we can continue to grow and service the intermediated market. Under our existing arrangement we would have been constrained with the volume we could write next year.

What are the policyholder protection arrangements?
The ratings strength of Alwyn’s owners, Arch Re (A+ from Standard & Poors and AM Best, A1 from Moody’s) means that policyholder protection measures such as those provided from Denmark are now less important. As Irish policyholders, the claims protections offered by the MIBI and the ICF are also available. Policyholders are now in the same protection position as those of any of the large UK-based composite insurers whose parents have a strong credit rating.   

Does this change mean Patrona will re-issue policies at renewal?
No, policies will renew completely normally. It is still a Patrona policy. The only difference you will see is the change of insurer name on Patrona documentation.

Do I need new policy booklets for new business and renewals?
Patrona FlexiCar booklets are written so that the insurer is named on the schedule, so this change does not require new booklets. However, following policy changes in April 2016 you should have been issuing new booklets to all renewing customers anyway, and this will need to continue until March 2017. 

Will there be any changes to premium and underwriting?
No. While we change prices often and underwriting sometimes, this change is not the reason why a price has risen or an existing policy has fallen outside our appetite.  We will use the same rating algorithm and underwriting we have been using.

What will I need to do differently?
Apart from advising the policyholder about the change (we are detailing this on our renewal documentation anyway), nothing at all. 

Where do I go if I need more information?
Information on Arch is available directly from their website, http://www.Archcapgroup.com.  Alternatively, you can contact any of the Flexi Car team on flexicar@patrona.ie