Legal action launched against UK insurer after South African workers claim the company sought to evade labour laws

BISL and Mr Steffens established Connectaquote (“CAQ”) as a sister company in South Africa and outsourced its telesales business to South Africa.

It is alleged that BISL intervened to cut the South African workers' pay. When workers raised legitimate grievances about pay and conditions, it is alleged that BISL and Mr Steffens decided to shut the company down rather than allowing workers to assert their legal rights in the South African labour courts. CAQ workers who did not try and enforce their labour rights were re-hired as consultants by a new company. 

BISL and Mr Steffens have challenged the jurisdiction of the English courts to hear the claim, and a two-day hearing will take place in the High Court on 21 and 22 July 2026 to determine whether the claims should proceed in England or South Africa. 

The 30 ex-CAQ workers allege that BISL and Mr Steffens, who they say continues to exercise significant influence over the companies, called the shots on their pay and conditions and then retaliated when claims were filed with South Africa’s labour authority. 

BISL – which trades under the names of several insurance brands including InsuranceLine Direct, WeCompare Direct, and Car Line Direct – and Mr Steffens, who is from Australia, deny the allegations against them and say they are not liable for any of the workers’ claims. 

According to the workers, during an aggressive telephone call Mr Steffens threatened to essentially bankrupt Connectaquote if the workers did not back down from raising legitimate grievances through South African employment tribunals – and then made good on that threat: weeks later, Connectaquote was placed into liquidation. 

In the claim, the workers also allege that Mr Steffens branded them “terrorists” for raising complaints and, in the aggressive phone call with a worker, allegedly said: “you don’t negotiate with terrorists… you blow their brains out.” Mr Steffens then told the worker he had one hour to withdraw the grievance he and his colleagues had raised or they would lose their jobs. 

Other allegations detailed in the workers’ claim include attempts by BISL to substantially reduce workers’ earnings and clawback practices where pay was taken from them, even after they had been paid, for circumstances out of their control, as well as discriminatory and deeply offensive conduct. 

BISL is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. 

The workers are seeking compensation for past and future lost earnings and damages for discrimination. They are represented by partner Dan Leader, and solicitors Alex Wessely and Ana Rizelo, from law firm Leigh Day.  

Leigh Day’s Alex Wessely said: 

“Our clients are committed to ensuring that there is proper accountability for UK-domiciled businesses who outsource to places like South Africa in the global south and allegedly proceed to flout labour laws by treating their colleagues there with disdain and disrespect. 

“They argue that BISL and Mr Steffens are liable for the alleged harm caused to them because they called the shots at Connectaquote and closed down the local company simply to evade labour laws. 

“Multinational companies cannot just shut down companies to avoid legal accountability for alleged violations of labour laws by their employees. If proven, this case will set an important precedent for other multinationals who seek to act like they are above the law.” 

One ex-worker, who did not wish to be named, said: 

“I have been part of CAQ for many years, and my colleagues became family rather than friends. We worked long, difficult hours so our children and families could have better futures – only to have everything taken away from us when CAQ suddenly closed its doors without warning.”