BASSETERRE–All nine insurance regulators and courts within the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and The Bahamas, where the British American Insurance Company (Baico) is incorporated have approved the transfer of Baico's traditional insurance business to Sagicor.With this approval, the sale of Baico to Sagicor was finalised last Friday.
As a result of the transaction, more than 15,000 former Baico policyholders have had their policies recapitalised, and are once again able to enjoy their original policy terms and access their insurance benefits.Sagicor has made interim arrangements with Baico for Baico branches in the ECCU to provide ongoing customer support to policyholders. This means that Baico will accept premiums and claims, and conduct other customer services on behalf of Sagicor.
Sagicor will make contact with each affected policyholder whose policy has been transferred, to welcome them to Sagicor, and to confirm how to continue receiving their policy related benefits, pay premiums and make claims.Sagicor will also directly contact an estimated 1,500-plus people who are owed historical claim amounts, and have surrendered payments, maturity payments, and bonuses by Baico to make these payments. The ECCU governments have provided funding for these amounts to be paid.
On June 29, 2012, the governments of the ECCU and the judicial managers of Baico announced that an agreement to sell part of Baico's insurance business to Sagicor Life and had been entered into and the ECCU Governments had undertaken to provide funding to assist in restoring value to the transferring policies.
