2024-07-27 11:03:00
Shock for thousands of customers: The life insurance company FWU Life Lux is bankrupt. The German parent company, the FWU Group, had previously filed for insolvency.
The Luxembourg life insurer FWU Life Insurance Lux is insolvent, according to a press release from the provisional insolvency administrator Ivo-Meinert Willrodt. According to this, the insurance company has filed for insolvency in Luxembourg.
The parent company, the financial holding company FWU AG, based in Grünwald near Münchenhad already filed for bankruptcy on July 19, it continues. According to the statement, FWU Life Lux stopped new business at the beginning of July, but the old business will continue for the time being.
“The current situation is a major challenge,” said CEO Manfred Dirrheimer, according to the statement. “In view of the changed economic conditions of our major investments and the resulting consequences for FWU AG, an application for insolvency could not be avoided.”
According to a report in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, the reason for the excessive indebtedness is the guarantees that the insurer had given to maintain premiums. The insurer had obviously overextended itself, it continues. As a result of the insolvency, the Luxembourg insurance regulator imposed a ban on payments, with the result that no customer can currently get their money, writes the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. Thousands of insured people in Germany are also said to be affected by this.
According to the statement, FWU AG employs around 420 people and has ten locations worldwide. In Europe, the group has around 285,000 customers with total premiums of nine billion euros. The insurer sells almost exclusively unit-linked life insurance policies, which consumer advocates advise against, among other things because of the high costs. Read more about this here.
Insolvency administrator Willrodt said that FWU AG’s business operations would continue. “We will examine all restructuring options,” said Willrodt. “The process is complex, but we are striving to find a long-term solution for the company.”