Quinn Direct denies payments allegations

Leading insurance company Quinn Direct has said it is to sue 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 Sunday Tribune yesterday published a memo purporting to come from a senior Quinn Direct manager which also claimed that gardaí working for the company had access to detailed information on road traffic crashes from the force's computer systems.

Last night, however, Quinn Direct said the memo in question was not written, drafted or signed by the manager whose name appears on it.

A spokesman said the document published in the newspaper was not authentic and the company would be taking legal action "first thing in the morning".

He also denied the allegations set out in the document.

"We have no reason to believe that any ex-garda on our claims panel accessed any information from Garda computers in relation to Quinn Direct claims.

"The company has never had a strategy of offering incentives to plaintiff solicitors to speed up their claim procedure or recommend a reduced settlement."

Sunday Tribune editor Noirín Hegarty said the paper stood over its story and was sure of its authenticity.

Quinn Direct, owned by billionaire Seán Quinn, has grown from small beginnings to become the State's third-largest insurer through a strategy of cutting premiums and reducing costs by settling cases quickly.

In 2005, it made profits of over €231 million.

Stuart Gilhooley, a member of the council of the Law Society, told The Irish Times yesterday he was not aware of any solicitor being offered an incentive by an insurance company in return for settling for a reduced fee for a client. "If something like that ever happened, it would be extremely serious," he said.

Mr Gilhooley said the company was noted for the speed with which it made contact with people who had been in road incidents.

"The joke was that they were able to contact people before they even had their accidents," he added. "People have been approached about making a settlement while they were still in hospital."

Fine Gael's justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe called on the Garda Commissioner and the Law Society to investigate the allegations.

Mr O'Keeffe said he was seriously concerned at any suggestion that some solicitors were abusing their positions by accepting extra fees in return for agreeing an early settlement.

It would be wrong for serving members of the force to carry out work for insurance companies and the commissioner should ascertain whether this was happening, he said.

Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins, who last week asked Minister for Justice Michael McDowell questions about the relationship between insurance companies and the Garda, said he would be raising the matter in the Dáil this week.

Mr Higgins accused another insurer, Axa Ireland, of "aping" Quinn Direct's practices by employing former gardaí to investigate insurance claims.

Mr McDowell last week confirmed that the Garda Síochána had a memorandum of understanding with Axa Ireland that gives the company a monopoly for towing away crashed vehicles.

A pilot project is currently under way in the southeast and the scheme is to be extended to Dublin shortly.

Mr McDowell also said there were stiff penalties for disclosing confidential information on the Garda's Pulse system.