not so bright

UPDATE: Brighty got 7 years. Hope he serves at least 8 of them. [24/10/2007]

And so farewell, Mr Bright. You were too Independent for your own good–and for many others’ good too, it seems.

Brighty is behind bars today, awaiting sentencing, for his part in the downfall of Independent Insurance 6 years ago. He was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to defraud. The first count accused the defendants of teaming up to con fellow “directors, employees, actuaries, auditors, re-insurers, shareholders, policyholders and others … by dishonestly withholding claims data”. Information was kept on so-called “whiteboards”, and not entered onto the main system. The second charge was of “making incomplete disclosure” of Independent’s re-insurance agreements between 1998 and 2001.

I used to do a lot more mainstream professional indemnity claims work in the 90s–everything from accountants to engineers to IFAs and so on. We never worked for Independent but it often seemed to be the case on risks where they also participated that the reserving levels were surprisingly low. One also heard darker and vaguer rumours that solicitors were being pressured to reduce reserve recommendations on all claims.

In the mid-90s I used to subscribe to a stock-picking magazine called The Analyst (I think). I cancelled my subscription after the issue in which they held up the Independent, under the inspired leadership of Brighty, as a model of how an insurance company should be run.

Sic transit purgamenti mundi.