It has been reported in Malta that the liquidator appointed to sort out the impact of the collapse of the Setanta insurance company, Paul Mercieca, hopes to be in a position to make an application to the Irish Courts to access the appropriate compensation fund by mid-January.

Setanta, which although trading in Ireland was registered in Malta, collapsed earlier this year. Paul Mercieca has had to collate information on various types of compensation that have been requested. This includes the 75,000 policyholders who were left with no cover and are seeking a premium refund, 2,000 claims for accidents which were submitted to Setanta and not settled and some 400 claims which were in legal process, including personal injury claims actions.

Mercieca has said that he has appointed actuaries to help him assess the potential claims so that an indicative figure for the total compensation can be reached.

Compensation will be made with finds coming from both remaining Setanta assets and the Insurance Compensation Fund. The problem is the fund cannot compensate for premiums paid and it can only pay up to 65 per cent of claims.

This is the first time that a case of this kind has occurred and with legal issues in largely uncharted territory the process has dragged on for a considerable time.