Garda inquiry set to examine claims

Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has ordered an inquiry into claims that serving gardaí were involved in the investigation of insurance claims on behalf of motor insurers.

Mr Conroy has appointed a senior officer of assistant commissioner rank to investigate the allegations, he said in a statement issued yesterday through the Garda press office.

Asked who the person heading the investigation was, a press office spokesman said it hadn't been told.

"An Garda Síochána has no knowledge of, nor does it condone, the participation of serving members in the investigation of insurance claims on behalf of motor insurers," the statement read.

The commissioner appealed for information from the public that might assist the investigation.

The Data Protection Commissioner is also inquiring into allegations that one company, Quinn Direct, obtained privileged Garda information on road traffic accidents. This information, it is alleged, helped the company settle cases more quickly and more cheaply, thereby contributing to a big rise in profits and market share.

Quinn Direct and another leading insurer, Axa Ireland, have employed former gardaí to investigate claims.

It has also emerged that Axa has a contract with the gardaí to tow away all motor vehicles involved in crashes; the deal has been piloted in the southeast and will shortly be extended to Dublin.

Quinn Direct is suing the Sunday Tribune over allegations that it made payments to claimants' solicitors in return for settling quickly and that it recruited serving gardaí to investigate and settle claims.

The company vehemently denies these claims, and says a document purporting to come from a senior manager, in which the allegations are made, is bogus.

A spokesman for Axa confirmed yesterday it employed former assistant commissioner Tony Hickey as a consultant shortly after his retirement. Willie McGee, the former deputy director of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, now works for Axa as its fraud investigation manager.

The spokesman said Axa had long employed a number of former gardaí as claims inspectors for "the extra expertise and experience they bring to the job".