Northumberland General Insurance Company

In Liquidation

^{Page last updated: June 26, 2024}

This page is for information purposes only and you should consult your professional adviser if you have any questions or are uncertain as to your rights or obligations.

Northumberland General Insurance Company (“Northumberland’) was a property and casualty insurance company, which was placed into liquidation by the Ontario Court in 1985.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc, which had previously acted as Agent for the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Provisional Liquidator, was appointed Liquidator of Northumberland in May 2010.

To date, $160 million has been paid in the liquidation to the policyholders and creditors of Northumberland, representing 100 cents on the dollar on their proved claims plus interest. In addition, the Canadian insurance industry, which initially funded the costs of the liquidation, has been repaid its advances in full with interest.

Northumberland was engaged in the underwriting of, among other products, significant liability insurance policies, including many with “long-tail” coverage (where exposures may not be manifest until long after the expiry of the policy term),and complex coverage including asbestos, alcohol, tobacco and environmental exposures. As a result, there are a number of claims and contingent claims against Northumberland which have not yet been finally determined or paid.

For further information, please refer to the attached document.

Notifying the Liquidator of Changes of Address

In order to receive future dividends, it is important that creditors of Northumberland inform the Liquidator of any changes of address. Please send such information to:

PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc.Liquidator of Northumberland General Insurance CompanyP.O. Box 933, Station A,

Toronto, Ontario M5W 1G5

English Hotline No.:  416-687-8058
or ca_northumberland_eng@pwc.com

French Hotline No.:   514-205-5284
or ca_northumberland_fr@pwc.com

For further information and background concerning Northumberland as well as its former US operations, please refer to  May 2010 Court Report.

Status of File as of June 24, 2024

On June 24, 2024, the Court granted an order (i) approving the accounts and activities of the Liquidator for the period January 1, 2019 to September 30, 2023 (the "Period"); (ii) approving the professional fees of the Liquidator for the Period; and (iii) declaring that Brian Reeve is the owner of 100% of the share capital of Northumberland, either (i) directly or (ii) indirectly through his ownership of the common shares of P.E. Reeve and Associates Limited.

Status of File – Fall 2022

At the end of 2022, the Liquidator issued 4,744 cheques to claimants who had failed to cash one or more previous distributions, for whom the Liquidator had obtained new addresses.

Status of File as of May 27, 2019

On May 23, 2019, the Court granted an order (i) approving the activities of the Liquidator for the period October 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018 (the “Period”); (ii) approving the professional fees of the Liquidator and that of its counsel for the Period; (iii) approving a further and final distribution to the Unearned Premium Claimants and Ordinary Creditors in respect of claims for post-liquidation interest.

Status of File as of December 1, 2014

On November 27, 2014, the Court granted an order (i) approving the activities of the Liquidator for the period October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2014 (the “Period”); (ii) approving the professional fees of the Liquidator and that of its counsel for the Period; (iii) approving a further distribution to the Policy Loss Claimants and to the Unearned Premium Claimants in respect of claims for post-liquidation interest; and, (iv) authorizing the Liquidator to make a distribution to the Policy Loss Claimants and to the Unearned Premium Claimants.

Status of File as of December 1, 2011

On November 30, 2011, the Court granted an order: (i) approving the activities of the Liquidator for the period February 2, 2010 to September 30, 2011 (the “Period”); (ii) approving the professional fees of the Liquidator and that of its counsel for the Period; (iii) approving a settlement (the “Settlement”) proposed by counsel of the holders of claims for indemnity for property or liability losses covered by polices (the “Policy Loss Claimants”) and the holders of claims for refunds of premiums paid for policies that were cancelled early (the “Unearned Premium Claimants”) relating to a distribution in respect of claims for post-liquidation interest; and, (iv) authorizing the Liquidator to make a distribution of approximately $27,000,000 from the estate of Northumberland to be distributed to the Policy Loss Claimants and the Unearned Premium Claimants in accordance with the Settlement.

An Order was granted on November 30, 2011.

Status of File as of June 29, 2011

On June 21, 2011, the Court granted an order (i) setting the procedure for service and filing of materials for a motion (the "Post-liquidation Motion") being sought by the Liquidator to seek the advice and directions of the Court with respect to the appropriate methodology for calculation of post-liquidation interest on claims in the estate of Northumberland and the priority ranking for post-liquidation interest as between claimants with claims for indemnity for property or liability losses covered by policies (the "Policy Loss Claimants") and claimants with claims for refund of premium paid for policies that were cancelled early (the "Unearned Premium Claimants"); ; and (ii) appointing representative counsel for each of the Policy Loss Claimants class and the Unearned Premium Claimants class, as set out below.

You may request from the Liquidator an estimate of the effect of the disposition of the priority ranking issue on post-liquidation interest payable on your claim(s).

For the purposes of the Post-liquidation interest Motion, the Court has appointed Edmond Lamek as Counsel to represent the Policy Loss Claimants and James H. Grout as counsel to represent the Unearned Premium Claimants.

The members of each class are bound by the acts of their respective representative counsel. However, if you desire to be individually represented and heard at the hearing of the Post-liquidation Interest Motion, you may do so by following the procedures set out in the Preliminary Directions Order.

This Web site will be updated as information becomes available.

For more information, please contact the Liquidator via:

English Hotline No.:  416-687-8058
or ca_northumberland_eng@pwc.com

French Hotline No.:   514-205-5284
or ca_northumberland_fr@pwc.com