Over 30 jobs to go as Swiss insurance firm pulls out of Dublin
La Mobilière founded the Dublin-based insurtech Companjon five years ago, with the stated aim of opening a new line of business and to get insights into the behaviour of customers in the digital insurance business.
Operating on a largely business-to-business model, its insurance policies were embedded in the operations of other companies. When consumers bought goods such as tickets for sporting events, and the seller asked if they wanted to insure the purchase, that type of insurance product was provided by Companjon.
Company sources say that as a result of the complex nature of the operations, it will take a couple of years to wind down its offices at Harbourmaster Place in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin's docklands.
'Not everyone will lose their job straight away. The workforce will be slowly reduced,' one source said.
The Department of Enterprise has been informed about the planned redundancies, and consultations began between management and staff yesterday.
In a statement, La Mobilière CEO Michèle Rodoni said: 'After gaining several years of experience with embedded insurance abroad and recently developing a new corporate strategy, we came to the conclusion that the further development and scaling of this business area is not in line with our strategic focus on the core business in Switzerland.'
The existing embedded insurance policies, the vast majority of which have short-term liabilities, are to be be run off, subject to appropriate approvals being received from the Irish authorities.
Companjon has a total workforce of 60 employees with 34 in Dublin and the remaining 26 based around Europe. Helen Nolan, who is chair of Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland, has been a non-executive director at Companjon Insurance DAC, and chaired its audit committee. Other Irish directors included Patrick Manley and Mary Kerrigan.
In its most recent financial returns, Companjon recorded a loss before tax of €2.879m for the financial year ended December 31, 2022, with a loss before tax of €10.25m.
It said that during 2023, the company had commenced business operations with three new business partners and has successfully concluded contractual negotiations with a new business partner which was due to go live in 2024.
"The directors expect the general level of activity of the company to increase further as the existing Companjon Group insurance solutions are made available on an increased number of online transactions and are rolled out to further markets, and as new business partners are onboarded, and new insurance solutions are launched,' the accounts said.
"The directors regard investment in this area as a prerequisite for success in the medium to long-term future.'
La Mobilière, which was founded as a co-op in 1826, boasts that it is Switzerland's oldest private insurance company. It has 6,600 employees in its home markets of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and a further 350 trainees.
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