Setanta customers to be liable for claims

Setanta Insurance customers left without cover after the firm’s collapse are now likely to be personally liable for at least part of any outstanding claims against them.

Former policyholders had hoped that a combination of contributions from the Insurance Compensation Fund and the sale of Setanta assets would raise enough money to cover the full cost of the more than 2,000 claims outstanding when the company folded earlier this year.

But the compensation fund is restricted to paying out 65% of any claim or €825,000, whichever is the smaller amount, and the Central Bank has warned that proceeds from the firm’s liquidation may not make up the remainder.