FSA shuts down insurance broker after it left clients uninsured
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The FSA has closed down Manchester based insurance broker M. Young Legal Associates for leaving clients uninsured by selling them insurance without underwriting in place.
The regulator has banned managing director Michael Young, also known as Mohammad Younas Yousaf, and financial director Asif Habib Malik for their roles in the affair.
The firm advised on and sold 'after-the-event legal expenses insurance policies' that cover the customers' legal costs if their claim is unsuccessful.
The FSA's investigations found that between July 2003 to March 2004 and September 2004 to November 2005, MYLA issued policies in the names of National Insurance and Guarantee Corporation Limited, IGI Insurance Company Limited and Contractors Bonding Limited despite having no underwriting agreement in place.
The regulator also says the firm failed to pass on premiums to underwriters when it did have underwriting cover, failed to adequately protect client assets and charged clients interest on credit agreements for premiums that were never paid.
FSA head of retail enforcement Jonathan Phelan says: "M. Young Legal Associates Limited exposed its customers to significant risks and potential hardship by claiming to have insurance underwriting agreements in place when it did not. Firms should not take clients' premiums and then fail to arrange insurance.
We have banned Mr Young and Mr Malik and closed M. Young Legal Associates Limited to protect both consumers and the reputation of the insurance industry. This action is one of the toughest sanctions we can take and reflects the seriousness of the behaviour."
