Hundreds of Independent Insurance policyholders have received final demands from the collapsed firm's liquidators, demanding millions of pounds in unpaid premiums, according to a recent report in Post Magazine.

The report claims that Capita Insurance Services, which manages the insurer's run-off from its former offices in Greater Manchester, has sent letters threatening legal action against policyholders if they fail to pay up by early February.

It goes on to say that, acting on the instructions of PwC, Capita is attempting to collect more than £14 million from policyholders on top of the £30 million it has already received. The letters explain that previous demands made through policyholders' brokers have been unsuccessful, forcing the company into making direct contact.

Daniel Scwarzmann, partner at PwC's discontinued business unit, told Post: “In this case, where you have a valid policy from Independent pre-insolvency, the premium prior to that is collective. In some cases, the payments had never been made, some of them go back months before the provisional liquidation on June 17th 2001.”