Dublin-based XS Direct Holdings Ltd has launched legal action in the Commercial Court, claiming two firms are infringing its intellectual property tied to insurance pricing algorithms, The Irish Times reported.
The company is suing Mulsanne Insurance Company Ltd, registered in Gibraltar, and Jersey-based Ormiston Holdco Ltd. It is seeking to enforce a September 2023 IP assignment agreement and recover damages. The claim is valued at more than £3.5 million (€4 million).
XS is joined in the case by Beach Point Capital (BPC) Ireland Lending DAC and BPC Ireland Lending II DAC, both senior lenders to the XS Group. BPC Lending II, which appointed receivers to XS Direct Insurance Brokers in 2022, holds a charge over the group’s IP assets, according to the report.
XS founder and CEO Chris McCann said in an affidavit that the disputed algorithms form the basis of the group’s core insurance product, built over 12 years using claims data and underwriting experience. The product, which launched in the UK in 2009, targets non-standard risks and uses high-excess models to offer lower premiums to customers typically excluded from standard policies.
McCann said that after XS Direct Insurance ceased trading in 2022, Mulsanne entered talks to license the product. A heads of terms was signed with XSV IP Ltd, a new XS entity, and Mulsanne made an initial payment of over £98,000. No further payments followed, he said.
In March 2024, Ormiston allegedly withdrew support for the agreement, stating it would no longer back Mulsanne’s use of the product, the report said.
The case was admitted to the Commercial Court on Monday by Justice Michael Twomey, following an application by Hugh O’Keeffe for the plaintiffs, with consent from John O’Donnell for the defendants. The judge approved directions for case management and noted that further efforts to resolve the matter outside court may still be possible.
