Would you buy an insurance policy via this mob?

Sonia Gable | Wednesday, 27 September 2006 Source: Searchlight

The British National Party is in such a dire financial state that it will try anything to persuade its members to part with more of their cash. But does Steve Blake, the BNP website editor, really believe his party's supporters are so credulous as to buy insurance from its in-house insurance company, which sails very close to the borderline of criminal activity? Sonia Gable investigates.

Albion Life is not like any other insurance company. Its website advertises life insurance "with a difference". And a difference there certainly is.

As Albion Life points out: "Most people take out life insurance for the benefit of their spouses, children and immediate family, in case of tragedy". But not BNP members, at least that is what Albion Life hopes. No, "by taking out a life policy with Albion Life you can help the serious political campaigning work of the British National Party".

Believe it or not, the BNP hopes that its supporters will pay monthly insurance premiums by direct debit in order to provide a lump sum on their death that will go to the BNP.

Even the BNP realises that not many members will go that far. Albion Life also allows customers to divide up the death benefit between family and party or even to leave the BNP out altogether. "You are under no obligation to name the British National Party as a beneficiary and are completely free to name any individual or entity as a beneficiary, such as a favourite charity or organisation," the website concedes.

Albion Life turns out not to be a proper insurance firm at all. Its officers are BNP members acting as "unpaid volunteers" and all it does is act as "introducers to a number of life insurance companies from whom we attempt to get the best deals on life insurance policies".

The website does not name any of Albion Life's officers and gives no postal address, telephone number or email address. But the website is registered to Steve Blake, editor of the BNP's own website and the man behind the website of another BNP front, the Christian Council of Britain.

Blake first came to Searchlight's attention as the importer of various hard-core nazi material from the USA including military manuals. More recently Blake was forced to make a public apology and out of court settlement after the BNP website seriously libelled Dr Raj Chandran, a GP and mayor of Gedlington. The website had falsely claimed that Dr Chandran had been struck off the medical register for supplying drugs to a female patient in exchange for sex.

The benefit to the BNP of policies sold via Albion Life is not limited to lump sums that the party may receive in the event of the member's death. The party does not want to wait that long. What the website does not point out is that when a customer takes out a policy Albion Life receives an introducer's fee which it passes straight on the BNP treasurer, John Walker.

Albion Life's administrator, Kelly Scott, was unwilling to reveal how much that fee was, saying that it would depend on the monthly premiums and term of the policy chosen, and the insurance company it was with.

Anyone gullible enough to ask for a life insurance quotation from Albion Life will hear from a man called David Boulton of Financial Solutions Unlimited, in Park Street, Bridgend. According to the Albion Life website, the insurance brokers Albion Life deals with are "not in any way connected to the British National Party and act in a purely commercial capacity". But without them Albion Life could not operate.

Searchlight asked Boulton about his dealings with Albion Life and its role in raising money for the BNP. He refused to comment but within 24 hours Searchlight had received an email from an irate Blake stating: "The thoroughly decent hard working entrepreneurs who choose to work with the BNP on a purely commercial basis have been made aware of the thoroughly unsavoury and disreputable nature of your organisation and advised that they do not speak to you or your colleagues".

The reason Albion Life is so dependent on Financial Solutions Unlimited, whose other principals are Craig Francis and Brian John Howcroft, is that selling insurance is a regulated activity under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Anyone who arranges insurance policies has to be authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) unless what they do is exempt.

Financial Solutions Unlimited is authorised and appears on the FSA register. Albion Life is not. It takes great care to come within an exemption by claiming to do no more than introduce customers to brokers. This is why its website says it "is not able to provide any financial advice".

A spokesperson for the FSA explained that a firm that merely introduced clients to an authorised insurance broker did not need to be authorised. But the borderline was unclear and it was up to the firm to decide whether it was carrying on a regulated activity. He added that carrying on a regulated activity without authorisation was a criminal offence.

Albion Life says it "exists solely as introducers". However the website includes an online form for potential customers to complete. It continues: "Our sales team will then take your details and find you the best policy for the monthly premium you have selected.

"We will then get back to you to discuss your application further.

"We are confident you will like our quotes and we can set your policy up within minutes if you choose."

These statements are on Albion Life's own website. They sound like rather more than merely introducing customers to an authorised broker.

The FSA told Searchlight it could not comment on the individual firm.

This is not the first time the BNP has pushed the to the limit the boundaries of what is permitted. Another BNP front, Civil Liberty, openly solicits donations abroad that would be illegal under the rules governing the funding of political parties if made to the BNP itself. The Electoral Commission has so far failed to act. Will the FSA prove similarly weak?