Guernsey Captive Insurer To Cover Complex Litigation and Arbitration

Guernsey-based arbitration and litigation finance provider Burford Capital (Burford) will establish its own insurance company, Burford Worldwide Insurance, in Guernsey to offer legal finance clients a new insurance product to address adverse costs risk. It will focus on the larger complex commercial litigation and arbitration market for costs of claims around €20 million.

While Burford has written more than 50,000 such policies in a relationship with MunichRe, these policies were focused on the middle market, which has declined following regulatory changes. However, for larger complex litigation and arbitration, adverse costs risk remains a key issue.

"Burford has extensive experience in providing adverse costs insurance. We brought our prior business to an end as its agency structure and its increasing platform costs were undesirable, but we see considerable demand for adverse costs coverage in the large dollar claims in which we specialize, and it makes eminent sense for us to meet that demand through our own insurance provider," said Christopher Bogart, CEO of Burford.

The insurer is registered as a non-cellular company. According to the Guernsey registry, "Guernsey companies can be cell companies (protected cell company (PCC), incorporated cell company (ICC)) or non-cellular companies (NCC). Most companies in Guernsey are non-cellular."