Motor insurance news
01/10/2008
UK car insurance company Fortis in sell-off rumours
Crisis in the world's financial markets has seen the UK's third largest car insurance company at the centre of speculation that it will be sold off after the banking arm of the company had to be rescued by a huge 11 billion euro (£8.9bn) bailout from the three Benelux governments.
As well as being an insurer, Fortis is Belgium's largest retail bank. Governments in Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium decided to rescue the institution in return for a 49 per cent stake and an agreement to sell its stake in Dutch bank ABN Amro, which it had bought as part of a £50 billion RBS-led consortium takeover last year.
Involvement in the ABN deal has now been reported as a strategic error. Filip Dierckx - who took over as the new Fortis chief executive last week - said, "If you look at some of the decisions that were taken in the past, then you can say that probably they were done at the wrong moment."
With UK offices at Brockworth in Gloucester and Eastleigh, Hampshire, staff have been fearing for their jobs. But Fortis UK's CEO Barry Smith made a statement to allay rumours.
He said, "The UK insurance operations have not been affected by the recent events at the group level and it is very much business as usual."
Fortis UK provides commercial business insurance services, consumer travel and house cover, as well being one of this country's largest car insurance companies.
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