City of Westminster Assurance (CWA) was originally incorporated in January 1968. The Irish Life Group bought CWA in December 1993 from AGF (Assurances Generales de France). CWA had closed to new business prior to 1993.

The UK operating arm of The Irish Life Group was established in 1969 as a branch of the Irish operations. The Irish Life UK book was closed to new business in 1995. Most of the business sold by Irish Life Group in the UK was integrated into CWA in December 1996. In December 1998 The Irish Life Group merged with Irish Permanent to form Irish Life & Permanent plc. Chesnara plc purchased CWA from Irish Life & Permanent plc in June 2005.

Business Transfer

Chesnara also owns another life assurance company, Countrywide Assured plc. As part of a group restructuring Chesnara transferred all City of Westminster Assurance policies into Countrywide Assured on 30th June 2006. This enables the business to be managed in a simpler and more efficient manner than would have been the case if the businesses remained separate.

Policyholder Enquiries

All policyholder enquiries should be made to the Policy contact enquiries address:

PO Box 1050
Cheltenham
GL50 9DJ
England
Telephone: 0800 085 2385
Fax: 0844 892 0589
Overseas Telephone: +44 1242 663500
Overseas Fax: +44 1242 663600