LV boss ridiculed for his U-turn on mutual’s finances

Under fire: LV boss Mark Hartigan

Former top brass at LV have slammed its chief executive Mark Hartigan for U-turning on the company’s fortunes. 

Eyebrows were raised among several high-ranking former staff last month after the ex-army colonel claimed the mutual insurer could continue as a standalone business – despite spending last year telling members that its survival was dependent on a controversial private equity takeover by American group Bain Capital. 

One former director questioned Hartigan’s motivation when presenting LV’s options to its members, while another said it seemed that he had been influenced by his desire to be part of a lucrative private equity deal. 

The criticism from former LV employees, who did not wish to be named as they had signed gagging orders during their time at the firm, came as the Mail was inundated with letters this week from customers saying they had lost all faith in Hartigan. 

One member, Pearl Aldridge, whose husband is also an LV policyholder, said they had ‘no confidence in his ability to lead LV as an independent mutual’. 

LV, which was founded in 1843 to help the poor of Liverpool save for a decent burial, almost fell into the hands of private equity shark Bain last year. 

Hartigan and then-chairman Alan Cook claimed the deal was the only way to ensure LV’s survival, as it desperately needed to invest in its technology but did not have the money to do so. But it prompted an outcry from LV’s customers, who own the company due to its status as a mutual. 

They were worried that profit-driven Bain would railroad over LV’s principles of putting customers first. In a vote last December, members put a stop to the deal. 

But rather than pursuing another merger – rival Royal London was interested in buying LV, and had promised to keep it a mutual – Hartigan claimed last month that LV is now in a comfortable position.

One ex-director said: ‘Alan Cook and Mark Hartigan both saw some upside to the Bain Capital deal – they would have been offered generous pay deals.’ 

Another claimed that Hartigan’s recent £511,000 bonus, which took his total pay over £1m in 2021, was ‘shocking’. 

Labour MP Gareth Thomas, who leads the parliamentary group for mutuals, said: ‘You can understand why members have no trust left in Mark Hartigan and his colleagues, after so much of their money was wasted on the disastrous failed buyout. Clearly a complete shakeup of the board is needed.’ 

A spokesman for LV said: ‘Thanks to the success of our refocused strategy and transformation plan the business is well capitalised and our trading performance has strengthened.’  

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk