Heard from a reliable contact that a leading UK insurer wrote to the FSA very recently complaining about Quinn Insurance.
Pretty much along the lines that Quinn Insurance are no longer independently financial strength rated after their ‘low’ Moody’s Rating (their only rating) was pulled.
Basically, the leading UK insurer informed the FSA that if Quinn Insurance continue to be allowed operate without rating, then if Quinn collapsed, they (the other UK insurer) will not part-take in market collective activity to rescue Quinn’s policyholders.
The FSA can’t take much action as Quinn domiciled in Ireland. So the Irish Regulator had a recent scheduled annual audit planned for Quinn Insurance. The Regulators auditing staff arrived at the Cavan HQ as was pre-arranged with Quinn Insurance. Allegedy, the Irish Regulator was ‘escorted’ off the premises and refused permission to conduct an independent audit !
It has been kept from the media but all the necessary circles are fully aware of this stand-off.
Now the question needs to be asked - why is an insurer operating in Ireland allowed act in this manner?
The UK insurer who referred Quinn Insurance to the FSA is currently considering moving operations from the UK to either Switzerland or Ireland for tax reasons.
I can’t believe the Irish Regulators are allowing this behaviour. More importantly, if Quinn goes tits up, if the Irish Regulator is proven to have been negligent and relaxed in addressing the problems in the past, other insurers within the state will refuse to assist in the clean-up exercise.
The entire insurance industry is talking about this event and not a single sign of action from the Regulator or the Irish Insurance Federation.
if this is true then it calls into question why we have a regulator in the first place! If true Quinn should be barred from writing new business immediately
According to todays Indo, Quinn are now the biggest insurer in Ireland.
Is it possible that Quinn could actually go belly up? I mean, Sean Quinn has already lost E1 billion on his Anglo CFD parlay and now has another E1 billion spent on shares. Joe Lewis lost the same amount in Bear Stearns and it was worldwide news.
Quinn has more than 50% in risky and/or illiquid assets. Axa less than 20%
Also, what is with the high debtors/outstanding accounts figure for Quinn at 13% of liabilities? A capital crisis would leave them in a pickle.
Just wanted to add something on the liability side. Quinn had P&L reserves fo €0.40bn or 25% of total liabilities, pluse top tier capital of €0.02bn. AXA have around €0.46 or about 23%. So the are both playing with a similar amount of risk capital.
This might have the makings for a good piece of investigative journalism. Check the numbers with the help of a specialist on insurance co. balance sheets, approach Quinn with some questions. Enquire with other insurers about their approach to investment strategy and risk.
I’m with Quinn too, and after hearing this and similar stories am just about ready to flip over to VHI. Does anyone know if I can just cancel straight away or if there are any other terms and conditions?
He may have some form of third party Opendrive off his 1L Full Comp but I suspect the Opendrive policy only applies
a) If he does not own the 2L
b) If he has permission from the owner ( who is not him )
c) owner of 2L may not be father mother first cousin or greatuncle .
d) Opendrive applies for no more than 1 month of the year ( to be notified to Quinn in advance in many cases )
Yogan is right , the other car must also be separately insured by its owner and it may even have to be Comprehensively Insured not just third party if you read those T&C’s
Just moved my car insurance to Zurich from Quinn partly because of what was said above and partly because it was cheaper by €133. Keep up the good work pinsters!
The Regulator need to act now as quickly and as strongly as possible. They do not need an invite to arrive on premises. Equally, if evidence suggests more serious problems at any institution, be they a bank, insurance company of stock broker then the full powers of our Garda Serious Fraud Investigation Unit must be deployed.
This issue is becoming far too serious now and it has to be addressed before consumers are affected and the insurance industry is damaged.
Combined with the Anglo and CFD stunt, the situation is not acceptable.
in many cases )