Broker had debts alleged to be £2m
A broker that incurred debts approaching £2m has been placed into administration and had its book of business sold to another firm, Collingwood Insurance Services.
Orion Direct, the Lancashire-based direct and wholesale broker and sister company Peppercom, had been declared insolvent and will now have their assets sold by administrators D Ruben & Partners, which were appointed on 11 March.
Orion Direct’s £5m GWP book of business, including its client list and details of renewals, has already been sold, for an undisclosed sum, to Collingwood Insurance Services, a North East based intermediary and specialist in taxi and fleet insurance.
It is believed that several companies including Irish insurer Quinn Direct and Evesham-based Harvington Underwriting are still owed money by the broker.
However, Asher Miller, administrator and partner in D Ruben & Partners, said some of those creditors may not be paid.
He said: “I would not have thought that realisations would have been enough to pay the creditors in full.
“We will now try and realise as much as we can from the assets. There are a lot of debtors that owe the company money and there are still some payments to come as part of the contract with Collingwood. Once we have done that we will be distributing to the creditors.”
He added that he expects to be in control of the company for longer than the standard one year period. “Insurance cases are quite difficult to sort out in terms of who owes what,” he said.
