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Proposed sale of Britannia Rescue to LV (Liverpool Victoria)

Anyone here a member of CSMA and concerned about the proposed sale of Britannia Rescue to LV (Liverpool Victoria)?

Not impressed that I can only vote on this proposal (I'm opposed to it) unless I can either attend the EGM on Thursday 10th May in central London, or find another CSMA member who is attending to act as my proxy.:mad:

Is any other member concerned about the proposed sale?
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Comments

  • GabbaGabbaHey
    GabbaGabbaHey Posts: 1,098 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yes, I am also concerned. And I also noticed the bit about only being able to vote in person or with a named proxy. Most other organisations allow you to direct the Chairman on how to cast your vote if you cannot attend in person.

    If there are any CSMA members who are planning to attend and to vote NO, I'll happily let you cast my proxy vote.
    Philip
  • dzug
    dzug Posts: 2,260 Forumite
    Well you CAN always write to the Chairman (or perhaps another more disinterested proxy) and tell him how to cast your proxy. Whether he takes any notice you will probably never know. He's supposed to listen to the arguments on both sides and cast his votes accordingly.

    I'm not overly concerned by the sale - reading between the lines it's a market they are best off out of before it turns sour on them.
  • chrisw
    chrisw Posts: 3,713 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I must admit, I took a quick look and threw it in the bin. If they keep Britannia they'll probably argue that they have to massively increase the cost of it. I've used them a few times and they have been excellent, so I hope the quality of service doesn't suffer.
  • Anyone here a member of CSMA and concerned about the proposed sale of Britannia Rescue to LV (Liverpool Victoria)?

    Not impressed that I can only vote on this proposal (I'm opposed to it) unless I can either attend the EGM on Thursday 10th May in central London, or find another CSMA member who is attending to act as my proxy.:mad:

    Is any other member concerned about the proposed sale?
    I also am annoyed about this literature. It doesn't seem to be giving you the choice to vote against. Maybe the price will go up if Britannia Rescue stays with the CSMA but maybe it won't. Certainly from my experience the motor insurance is not as good as it was so I have gone elsewhere, something I never thought would happen.
    As I understand from the literature which was sent through - they are going to use some of the money to get the pension fund back on track! I strongly oppose the sale of this rescue service and have no way of voting against the sale unless I go to London. Why didn't they give you the option of voting against it on the form which was sent out?
  • "Why didn't they give you the option of voting against it on the form which was sent out?"
    Because they are acting illegally in my opinion.

    There is a guy on the rpoints/mutuals forum who is attending and is willing to be proxy.

    Marie


    PS.
    I have writtten to the FSA with this response:-

    Thank you for your email of 17 April 2007.

    YOUR ENQUIRY

    You wish to know whether it is legal for the CSMA to sell of its
    breakdown recovery business to Liverpool Victoria without it being put
    to the vote to its members.

    RESPONSE TO YOUR ENQUIRY

    We at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) cannot comment on whether
    this is legal, as offering legal comment falls beyond the scope of
    service that we are able to provide. The link below to our information
    sheet 'Introduction to the Financial Services Authority - information
    for consumers' explains our role and remit in more detail:
    http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/fsa_who.pdf.

    Please note that the decision by a company to transfer/sell all or part
    of its business to another is a purely commercial decision for the firm
    in question to make. However, the FSA has to be satisfied that the
    transfer would not be to the detriment of existing policyholders, for
    example, fundamental changes to the terms and conditions of policies.

    The transfer process includes a range of safeguards to protect the
    interest of all members and policyholders, including those being
    transferred. Amongst others, these safeguards include:

    1. that the terms of a transfer and its impact must be reviewed by an
    independent expert;
    2. that as regulator, the FSA is able to scrutinise any proposals to
    ensure that regulatory requirements (including the requirement to treat
    customers fairly) are and will continue to be met;
    3. that a proposed transfer cannot proceed unless it is approved by the
    Court: and
    4. the approval of any transfer may not require the approval of members
    or policyholders. However, under Section 107 of the Financial Services
    and Markets Act 2000, the High Court would need to approve the transfer.
    In forming its decision, the High Court would consider any
    representations made by the FSA in respect of any regulatory issues that
    may arise as a result of the transfer;
    5 policyholders must be consulted and can raise any objections to the
    proposals during the court process. In addition, there is an obligation
    on the parties of a transfer to notify us of any material
    representations received during the consultation process and we would
    take any such representations into account in our assessment of the
    proposals.

    The FSA, like any person who thinks that they will be adversely affected
    by a transfer of business from one firm to another, has a right to
    participate in the court proceedings for the purpose of making
    representations. As an organisation, it takes into account a number of
    factors in deciding whether or not to participate in proceedings for the
    purposes of objecting to a given scheme. For instance, in deciding
    whether to object to any scheme, the FSA will consider the potential
    risk to its regulatory objectives (and in particular, its objectives of
    promoting market confidence and protecting consumers) if a transfer were
    to be effected.

    I infer from your email that you may be a member of the CSMA opposed to
    the transfer of business to Liverpool Victoria. However, given the
    safeguards explained above, I hope I have reassured you that the FSA
    takes a sufficiently proactive role in all insurance business transfer
    schemes.

    FURTHER INFORMATION

    We are interested in finding out about people's views and experiences of
    the services offered by the Consumer Contact Centre. As a result, we
    employ a research agency to help us, and they may contact you, via the
    telephone, to see if you would be prepared to take part in a short
    telephone interview. If you do receive a phone call you are under no
    obligation to complete the survey. Please rest assured that your
    details will remain confidential and will not be used for any other
    purposes; we are not trying to sell you any financial products or
    service, and no sales call will result from this.

    If you do not wish to take part in any of our surveys, please call the
    Consumer Contact Centre on 0845 602 2185 (call rates may vary), or
    complete the contact us form using the following link
    http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/contactus.aspx, and we will ensure
    that your details are not passed on to the research agency.

    Yours sincerely





    Jo Malanga (Miss)
    Consumer Contact Centre
    Regulatory Services Business Unit
    Financial Services Authority
    Consumer Helpline: 0845 602 2185 (call rates may vary)
  • dzug
    dzug Posts: 2,260 Forumite
    There is a guy on the rpoints/mutuals forum who is attending and is willing to be proxy.


    Sorry, where's that forum? Can't find it anywhere obvious. (It's probably staring me in the face...)
  • Rpoints is at www.rpoints.com and it has a Mutual topic in its Forums "CSMA no windfall merger with LV" where user "phalanx" offers to attend and vote NO on the resolution.

    But, we need his proper name and a short form of his address so as to name him on the Proxy form.

    I have registered for "rpoints" but the only way of contacting "phalanx" is by private message on the forum and "you cannot send private messages until you have been registered for 7 days". Can "mariegriffiths" or someone who has been registered with rpoints for a while please send a message to phalanx and ask for sufficient details (and permission to publish them here) so that we can complete the Proxy form in his name?

    Thanks for any help you can give to stop CSMA railroading us into doing something that they haven't properly explained or justified.
  • I have got phalanx's details and he has given me permission to give them out by private message or email to those who genuinely want to use him as a proxy - so let me know by private message if you need them.
  • Whilst I suppose it may be best in the long-term for CSMA to sell Britannia to LV, I think their way of pushing the vote through is highly undemocratic. All other organistions of which I have been a member have conducted this type of critical vote by giving members the ability to direct the chairman to vote on your bahalf. Most people simply cannot visit central London without considerable expense and taking 1 or more days holiday - and may not know someone who is willing to vote for them. I'll write to the Chairman expressing this but have little faith they'll take any notice.
  • rowancott wrote: »
    I have got phalanx's details and he has given me permission to give them out by private message or email to those who genuinely want to use him as a proxy - so let me know by private message if you need them.

    Many thanks rowancott - I have also now followed the link back from RPoints forums to here as well :) As mentioned, anyone can either PM me here or over there and I'll do what I can at the AGM.
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