Court gives R&Q insurance business transfer the go-ahead

Oklahoma District Court has given final approval for the transfer of Sentry Insurance Co reinsurance policies. This will pass to National Legacy Insurance Co, a unit of Bermuda-based non-life legacy insurance and programme management business Randall & Quilter (R&Q) Investment Holdings, which owns National Legacy.

It is only the second insurance business transfer approved in the US since a change in the law in 2018, and the first between completely separate entities.

The transfer includes Sentry’s reinsurance liabilities relating to its involvement as a member of the Excess & Casualty Reinsurance Association pool and $2.9 million paid from Sentry to NLI. It will enable Sentry, one of the country’s largest mutual insurance companies, to focus on its core business of commercial property and general liability insurance. The transfer will not change policy terms, rights and obligations or the way the policy is administered.

It follows the first IBT plan approved by the court last year: transfer substantially all the insurance and reinsurance business underwritten by Providence Washington Insurance Company (PWIC) to Yosemite Insurance Company – both subsidiaries of Enstar Group.

The Oklahoma IBT law came effective in November 2018 and is modelled on the Part VII transfer process in the UK and EU. It allows insurers to legally transfer a re/insurance business to another insurance company following consultation with stakeholders and a court hearing.

Mike Walker, head of transformation at R&Q, said: “The process which the court has sanctioned today has been extremely rigorous, with regulatory oversight, an Independent Expert review and a communication process which enabled stakeholders to engage. As US companies look to redeploy capital and seek to exit lines of business, this innovative solution – tried and tested in other jurisdictions – will continue to be attractive.”