MCE update – by Fergus Dalgarno

I wrote a while ago about the situation with MCE going into administration. This article is by way of an update.

The background is that MCE (as was) now Green Realisations 123 Limited, registered in Gibraltar, went into administration last year. All policies were cancelled as of 31^st January this year.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme must step in any pay compensation to

• those whose policies were cancelled before 12 months expired and who had paid up front for their insurance and
• Those people who made a claim on their policy between the date that MCE (as was) went into administration and 31^st January this year and
• People who had made a claim against an MCE policy holder.

The administrators are the people tasked with managing, among other things, the handling of all the above claims.

For those who are seeking a refund of pre-paid premium, my understanding is that this process is ongoing, though slow. Those who have third party claims against a MCE policyholder should, in my view, claim against the actual rider and those claims will ultimately be met in full by the FSCS. I would not advise issuing against Green Realisations 123 Limited for reasons below.

If you are not at fault, claim for bike damage from the driver’s insurance and leave MCE out of it.

The real issues arise for those who have made a claim against their MCE policy.

I write to the administrators, the FSCS and after some chasing received a response from the Administrators.

If you have a claim under your MCE policy, they advise that you take the following steps:

1. Submit the claim to motorclaims@gr123.gi
2. If not happy, submit your complaint to complaints@gr123.gi

The issue arises when the complaint fails. The gut instinct is to issue proceedings however, under the law of Gibraltar, which is the law governing the situation, proceedings cannot be issued against Green Realisations 123 Limited (previously MCE) without the permission of the Court or the permission of the Administrators. The Administrators have advised that they will not grant permission and will fight any application to the Court for permission. There is also a good chance that the costs of any application, if successful, would not be recovered. So, what to do.

I have spoken to a couple of people who have had some success. They did so by making themselves a real pain for the claim handlers. Whether this works for you or not, it may be worth the try.

1. Follow the route of submitting the claim and making a complaint above
2. Make a GDPR request for all the personal data they hold (Article 15). Google GDPR Article 15 and you will get a list of all the data you can request. Or you can see below.
3. Challenge them to show their FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) reference number and ask how they are able to operate without supervision. Basically, ask awkward questions.
4. Each time you do anything also offer to settle your claim for the amount that you think is reasonable. This allows them to consider the cost of arguing against the cost of paying you out.

If I get anything more, I will add it. In the meantime, I am writing to the Prime Minister, the Department of Transport and the Opposition to ask on what basis they allow insurance companies to operate in this Country without the laws of this Country applying.

And next time you insure, it might be worth paying a bit extra to insure with a UK registered company rather than a company who can hide behind the rules of a foreign jurisdiction. Just my thoughts.

On a closing note a couple of positive tales.

I was acting for a client whose son was killed in a bike accident and MCE were being a nightmare. The father came to me about a claim for the costs of the funeral etc. I submitted a claim to AXA Insurance for all losses except the bike as MCE were dealing with that. AXA paid out in a few weeks. Months later, after MCE and their solicitors had put every imaginable hurdle in my way I went back to AXA and asked if they could pay the bike directly as well. Yes, and within a couple of weeks all sorted. It was nice to come across some integrity and decency from an insurer so it should be noted.

A second case, a client who had been struggling to get MCE to handle a claim against him and was being taken to Court got in touch. One solicitor’s letter to the administrators and all sorted. It should not have taken a letter, but such is.

Art. 15 GDPR Right of access by the data subject

1. The data subject shall have the right to obtain from the controller confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning him or her are being processed, and, where that is the case, access to the personal data and the following information:
   1. the purposes of the processing;
   2. the categories of personal data concerned;
   3. the recipients or categories of recipient to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, in particular recipients in third countries or international organisations;
   4. where possible, the envisaged period for which the personal data will be stored, or, if not possible, the criteria used to determine that period;
   5. the existence of the right to request from the controller rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing of personal data concerning the data subject or to object to such processing;
   6. the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority;
   7. where the personal data are not collected from the data subject, any available information as to their source;
   8. the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling, referred to in Article 22(1) and (4) and, at least in those cases, meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject.
2. Where personal data are transferred to a third country or to an international organisation, the data subject shall have the right to be informed of the appropriate safeguards pursuant to Article 46relating to the transfer.
3. ¹The controller shall provide a copy of the personal data undergoing processing. ²For any further copies requested by the data subject, the controller may charge a reasonable fee based on administrative costs. ³Where the data subject makes the request by electronic means, and unless otherwise requested by the data subject, the information shall be provided in a commonly used electronic form.
4. The right to obtain a copy referred to in paragraph 3 shall not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.