Information on Pacific Blu L.P., a limited partnership registered in New Zealand that provides the ‘My Home’ household insurance policy.
Pacific Blu L.P. (Pacific Blu) is the named insurer on the My Home policy documentation. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has received confirmation from the relevant New Zealand regulatory bodies that Pacific Blu is not licensed as an insurer or as a financial services provider in New Zealand.1 The My Home policy documentation also claims that Pacific Blu is a participant in the dispute resolution scheme provided by New Zealand Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL). FSCL has confirmed to the FCA that Pacific Blu is not currently a scheme participant.
Pacific Blu’s documentation does not include any information about whether it is authorised, registered, licensed or regulated as an insurer in any other country.
What is the risk to consumers?
We are aware that the My Home policy has already been sold to consumers in the UK through one authorised general insurance intermediary. It is possible that this policy or others offered by Pacific Blu are also being sold through other general insurance firms in the UK.
We are concerned that consumers who have taken out policies with Pacific Blu may be unaware that they have entered into an unregulated insurance contract under which there appears to be no regulatory protection.
Action to be taken by firms carrying out insurance mediation activities
Firms authorised in the UK selling the My Home policy or any other insurance policy offered by Pacific Blu need to take the following steps:
- Immediately withdraw Pacific Blu’s policies from sale.
- Make arrangements to place policyholders back into the position they would have been in had they not entered into any contract with Pacific Blu.
- Contact the FCA’s Customer Contact Centre on 0845 606 9966 with details of the number of Pacific Blu policies they have sold and details of their proposals to redress the potential risk to their customers.
How to protect yourself
We strongly advise you to only deal with financial firms that are authorised by us, and check the Financial Services Register to ensure they are. It has information on firms and individuals that are, or have been, regulated by us.
If a firm does not appear on the Register but claims it does, contact our Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768.
There are more steps you should take to protect yourself from unauthorised firms.
You should also be aware that if you give money to an unauthorised firm, you will not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong.
Report an unauthorised firm
If you think you have been approached by an unauthorised firm or contacted about a scam, you should contact our Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768. If you were offered, bought or sold shares, you can use our share fraud reporting form.
You can see more ways to report an unauthorised firm and find out what to do if you have been scammed.
1Pacific Blu was registered as a Limited Partnership on 24 January 2013 by the Registrar of Companies, New Zealand, pursuant to the New Zealand Limited Partnerships Act 2008.
A person cannot be in the business of acting as an insurer in New Zealand unless they are registered on the New Zealand Financial Service Providers Register for that service. Pacific Blu is not included on this Register. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which is responsible for licensing insurers carrying on business in New Zealand, also does not include Pacific Blu on its list of licensed insurers.