Royal & SunAlliance
Encyclopedia
RSA Insurance Group plc , commonly known as RSA, is a global general insurance
company headquartered in London
, United Kingdom
. It has over 20 million customers in 36 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and South America.
RSA is listed on the London Stock Exchange
and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
.
and Moses Montefiore
. Sun Alliance went on to acquire London Assurance in 1965 (becoming Sun Alliance & London) and Phoenix Assurance in 1984.
Royal Insurance was founded in 1845. It acquired Liverpool & London and Globe Insurance Company in 1919. The company formally changed its name from Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc to RSA Insurance Group on 20 May 2008.
In March 2009, RSA announced plans for the shedding of 1,200 jobs from its UK operations, a reduction of around 15%.
RSA is the second-largest general insurer in the United Kingdom. Its global headquarters are in the City of London
on Fenchurch Street
and the headquarters of its UK operations are on Leadenhall Street
. Its registered office is in St Mark's Court, Horsham
. Other key UK offices are located in Liverpool
, Bristol, Manchester
, Chelmsford
, Glasgow, Cardiff
, Sunderland, Belfast
, Peterborough
, Halifax
, Croydon
and Birmingham
. RSA, including its More Th>n brand, announced itself to be the first carbon neutral
insurance company in the UK on 2 December 2006.
RSA owns the More Than direct car, home
, pet
and travel insurance
brand in the United Kingdom, recognised widely for its former Lucky The Dog advertisements and its "MORE IS ..." campaign. More Th>n also sells van, business car, shops and offices and business insurance through its More Than Business operation.
among workers in Clyde
shipyards. The workers alleged that between 1972–1977 R&SA had issued insurance certificates to asbestos manufacturer Turner & Newall
but excluded cover for asbestosis, in breach of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. R&SA responded that asbestos-related injury was excluded from the policy because it was a risk the company was not willing to underwrite, that Turner & Newall was instead self-insured against asbestosis and should therefore be responsible for any compensation.
In February 2002 R&SA set aside £
384 million to double its reserves available for asbestos claims which, combined with claims of £
215 million arising from the 11 September attacks, wiped out its 2001 profits. R&SA put up seven of its subsidiaries for sale in an attempt to raise a further £
800 million to cover liabilities for asbestos insurance claims in the United States. Friends Ivory & Sime
subsequently acquired R&SA's UK asset management subsidiary in May 2002 for £240 million. The situation was further compounded by R&SA having to reserve £1.2 billion against liabilities for guaranteed annuities
, the product which caused the collapse
of Equitable Life
, and was also facing a fine from the Financial Services Authority
for failure to meet the deadline in the pension mis-selling review. Two months later Friends Provident
acquired R&SA's offshore life unit International Financial Services Limited, based on the Isle of Man
, for £133 million. In July 2002 R&SA sold its group risk business to Canada Life for £60 million. R&SA was forced to close its life business, with the loss of 1,200 jobs, in August 2002.
In November 2002 Turner & Newall launched a suit against R&SA on behalf of former employees who had suffered asbestos-related disease, claiming that the insurer was liable because it provided employer liability policies to the engineering firm. In an effort to reduce costs, R&SA chairman Sir Patrick Gillam said it would sell its US business RSUI and "float most of its Asia Pacific operations", bringing total job losses in the UK to 4000. The case was heard at the High Court of Justice
in January 2003. R&SA argued that a policy clause which excluded cover for pneumoconiosis
also excluded other asbestos
-related disease such as asbestosis
and peritoneal mesothelioma
. Colin Edelman QC
, representing T&N, told Mr Justice Lawrence Collins that the defence which R&SA had the "temerity" to put forward was "just ridiculous" and that the insurer was trying to "wriggle out of its liability." On 9 May 2003 the court ruled that R&SA was liable for the compensation claims. In September 2003 R&SA cut 1,000 jobs in the UK and asked shareholders for £960 million to cover further asbestos claims.
In September 2011, Judge Platt of the Romford County Court in his judgement attacked the method in which RSA recovered their costs by putting a subsidary within the motor claims process to inflate profits. Several insurers are now refusing to pay RSA's requests for payment without sight of the original invoice.
General insurance
General insurance or non-life insurance policies, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event. General insurance typically comprises any insurance that is not determined to be life insurance. It is called property and...
company headquartered in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It has over 20 million customers in 36 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and South America.
RSA is listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
.
History
RSA was formed following the merger of Sun Alliance and Royal Insurance in 1996. Sun Alliance was itself a product of the merger in 1959 of The Sun, which was founded in 1710, with The Alliance, which was founded in 1824 by Nathan Mayer RothschildNathan Mayer Rothschild
Nathan Mayer, Freiherr von Rothschild , known as Nathan Mayer Rothschild, was a London financier and one of the founders of the international Rothschild family banking dynasty...
and Moses Montefiore
Moses Montefiore
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, Kt was one of the most famous British Jews of the 19th century. Montefiore was a financier, banker, philanthropist and Sheriff of London...
. Sun Alliance went on to acquire London Assurance in 1965 (becoming Sun Alliance & London) and Phoenix Assurance in 1984.
Royal Insurance was founded in 1845. It acquired Liverpool & London and Globe Insurance Company in 1919. The company formally changed its name from Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc to RSA Insurance Group on 20 May 2008.
In March 2009, RSA announced plans for the shedding of 1,200 jobs from its UK operations, a reduction of around 15%.
Operations
RSA provides insurance products and services to over 20 million policyholders. It has the ability to write business in 130 countries and has direct operations in 27 countries.RSA is the second-largest general insurer in the United Kingdom. Its global headquarters are in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
on Fenchurch Street
Fenchurch Street
Fenchurch Street is a street in the City of London home to a number of shops, pubs and offices. It links Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street to the west. To the south of Fenchurch Street and towards its eastern end is Fenchurch Street railway station...
and the headquarters of its UK operations are on Leadenhall Street
Leadenhall Street
Leadenhall Street is a street in the City of London, formerly part of the A11. It runs east from Cornhill to Aldgate, and west vice-versa. Aldgate Pump is at the junction with Aldgate...
. Its registered office is in St Mark's Court, Horsham
Horsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
. Other key UK offices are located in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Bristol, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Chelmsford
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
, Glasgow, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Sunderland, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
, Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
, Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. RSA, including its More Th>n brand, announced itself to be the first carbon neutral
Carbon neutral
Carbon neutrality, or having a net zero carbon footprint, refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount sequestered or offset, or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference...
insurance company in the UK on 2 December 2006.
RSA owns the More Than direct car, home
Home insurance
Home insurance, also commonly called hazard insurance or homeowner's insurance , is the type of property insurance that covers private homes...
, pet
Pet insurance
Pet health insurance pays the veterinary costs if one's pet becomes ill or is injured in an accident. Some policies will also pay out when the pet dies, or if it's lost or stolen....
and travel insurance
Travel insurance
Travel insurance is insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses, financial default of travel suppliers, and other losses incurred while traveling, either within one's own country, or internationally...
brand in the United Kingdom, recognised widely for its former Lucky The Dog advertisements and its "MORE IS ..." campaign. More Th>n also sells van, business car, shops and offices and business insurance through its More Than Business operation.
Offices
Asia & Africa
Bahrain People's Republic of China Hong Kong India Oman Saudi Arabia Singapore United Arab EmiratesEurope
Channel Islands Denmark Estonia Germany Republic of Ireland Norway Latvia Lithuania Italy Russia Sweden Poland United Kingdom (head office)North America and Caribbean
Canada Mexico Netherlands Antilles ArubaAruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
South America
Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia UruguayAsbestos liabilities
In January 2002 Royal & Sun Alliance became involved in litigation over claims for injury arising from asbestosisAsbestosis
Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory and fibrotic medical condition affecting the parenchymal tissue of the lungs caused by the inhalation and retention of asbestos fibers...
among workers in Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
shipyards. The workers alleged that between 1972–1977 R&SA had issued insurance certificates to asbestos manufacturer Turner & Newall
Turner & Newall
Turner & Newall was a leading manufacturing business based in Manchester, United Kingdom. At its peak, it was a constituent of the FT30 index of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange.-1871-1920:...
but excluded cover for asbestosis, in breach of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. R&SA responded that asbestos-related injury was excluded from the policy because it was a risk the company was not willing to underwrite, that Turner & Newall was instead self-insured against asbestosis and should therefore be responsible for any compensation.
In February 2002 R&SA set aside £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
384 million to double its reserves available for asbestos claims which, combined with claims of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
215 million arising from the 11 September attacks, wiped out its 2001 profits. R&SA put up seven of its subsidiaries for sale in an attempt to raise a further £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
800 million to cover liabilities for asbestos insurance claims in the United States. Friends Ivory & Sime
Friends Provident
Friends Provident was an organisation offering life insurance based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as a mutual Friendly Society for Quakers, although it was demutualised in 2001 and became a publicly listed company, no longer linked with the Religious Society of Friends...
subsequently acquired R&SA's UK asset management subsidiary in May 2002 for £240 million. The situation was further compounded by R&SA having to reserve £1.2 billion against liabilities for guaranteed annuities
Annuity (European financial arrangements)
An annuity can be defined as a financial contract which provides an income stream in return for an initial payment with specific parameters. It is the opposite of a settlement funding...
, the product which caused the collapse
Equitable Life Assurance Society v Hyman
Equitable Life Assurance Society v Hyman [2000] is an English contract law case, concerning implied terms.-Facts:Equitable Life issued ‘with profits’ life assurance policies, which are a way of saving for retirement. If policy holders took benefits as a taxable annuity Equitable Life Assurance...
of Equitable Life
Equitable Life
The Equitable Life Assurance Society , founded 1762, is a life insurance company in the United Kingdom. The world's oldest mutual insurer, it pioneered age based premiums based on mortality rate laying “the framework for scientific insurance practice and development” and “the basis of modern life...
, and was also facing a fine from the Financial Services Authority
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...
for failure to meet the deadline in the pension mis-selling review. Two months later Friends Provident
Friends Provident
Friends Provident was an organisation offering life insurance based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as a mutual Friendly Society for Quakers, although it was demutualised in 2001 and became a publicly listed company, no longer linked with the Religious Society of Friends...
acquired R&SA's offshore life unit International Financial Services Limited, based on the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
, for £133 million. In July 2002 R&SA sold its group risk business to Canada Life for £60 million. R&SA was forced to close its life business, with the loss of 1,200 jobs, in August 2002.
In November 2002 Turner & Newall launched a suit against R&SA on behalf of former employees who had suffered asbestos-related disease, claiming that the insurer was liable because it provided employer liability policies to the engineering firm. In an effort to reduce costs, R&SA chairman Sir Patrick Gillam said it would sell its US business RSUI and "float most of its Asia Pacific operations", bringing total job losses in the UK to 4000. The case was heard at the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
in January 2003. R&SA argued that a policy clause which excluded cover for pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis is an occupational lung disease and a restrictive lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust, often in mines.-Types:Depending upon the type of dust, the disease is given different names:...
also excluded other asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
-related disease such as asbestosis
Asbestosis
Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory and fibrotic medical condition affecting the parenchymal tissue of the lungs caused by the inhalation and retention of asbestos fibers...
and peritoneal mesothelioma
Peritoneal mesothelioma
Peritoneal mesothelioma is the name given to the cancer that attacks the lining of the abdomen. This type of cancer affects the lining that protects the contents of the abdomen and which also provides a lubricating fluid to enable the organs to move and work properly.The peritoneum is made of two...
. Colin Edelman QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, representing T&N, told Mr Justice Lawrence Collins that the defence which R&SA had the "temerity" to put forward was "just ridiculous" and that the insurer was trying to "wriggle out of its liability." On 9 May 2003 the court ruled that R&SA was liable for the compensation claims. In September 2003 R&SA cut 1,000 jobs in the UK and asked shareholders for £960 million to cover further asbestos claims.
Alleged financial irregularities
In February 2011, RSA and Provident Insurance came to a public disagreement over subrogated motor repair costs, the dispute involves the alleged inflation of costs through RSA subsidiary Motor Repair Network Management Such issues include the charging of collection and delivery fees for drivable vehicles, addition of sundries in excess of £100, this has led to a number of insurers refusing to pay RSA for their claims without sight of documentation. RSA in turn has refused to provide the documentation that a number of insurers have requested to resolve the claim and have passed their files to Lyons Davidson to litigate.In September 2011, Judge Platt of the Romford County Court in his judgement attacked the method in which RSA recovered their costs by putting a subsidary within the motor claims process to inflate profits. Several insurers are now refusing to pay RSA's requests for payment without sight of the original invoice.