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UK Based Underwriting Insurers, does it matter?

TOTAL LOSS GAP has used both UK-based and Gibraltar-based insurers for our policies. From February 2024 any newly purchased GAP Insurance products will be underwritten by UK based Financial & Legal Insurance Company Ltd. Financial & Legal Insurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority

Does it matter if your underwriting insurer is based in the UK or not? 

The simple answer is no, it doesn't matter. The most important consideration for any form of insurance you purchase in the UK, is that the policy is backed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. This ensures that should the underwriting insurer come into any financial difficulty, the government will step in and pay out up to 90% of any claim settlement. This happens whether the Underwriter is UK based or not. 

Frequently Asked Questions on UK Based Underwriters

But, what about Brexit? Does this have any impact on your policy?

Again, No. Your policy will be underwritten, the terms agreed and the scheme in place before brexit was even a considered and therefore it will have no impact on any future claims made. Being part of Aequitas, we are in the fortunate position of being able to offer policies from both UK and non UK based underwriters. All of which are major influences in the world of Gap and other automotive based insurances. Yet, there is no benefit to taking a policy with a UK based underwriter to that with a non UK based. 

If you need to make a claim would you have to call a different country? 

No. As mentioned previously, we have access to a number of different underwriters, all of which have a dedicated claims team based in the UK. Current policies listed on Total Loss Gap have a dedicated claims team based in UK, despite the underwriters location being Gibraltar. 

Are you less protected if the underwriter isn't UK based?

Not at all. Again, the biggest form of protection and peace of mind you can have, is that the policy is protected by the FSCS. If an underwriter ran into financial difficulty and were unable to settle your claim, it would be the same Financial Services Compensation Scheme available to you whether it's UK based underwriter or not. The FSCS for short is an independent organisation that ensures that if you buy a financial product, you are protected and describe themselves as the "compensation fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms."

In fact, lots of household named insurance companies thought of as British institutions, are based outside the UK.

Does it matter if an underwriter isn't UK based? No, not at all. Providing that your policy is backed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme the geographical location makes no difference at all, as long as the backup protection is in force.