Quinn Direct Insurance has accused the three dominant insurance brokerages - AON, Coyle Hamilton Willis and Marsh - of carving up the business insurance market for international groups by excluding its products from quotations they make to their clients.
The Cavan-based company claims the three internationally-owned brokerages are part of a "cosy club" in the Irish market and says they have a policy of recommending only international insurers such as Allianz, AXA and Aviva to their Irish business clients.
Quinn Direct said its business insurance premiums last year were in excess of €125 million and had increased from €10 million in 2001. The company said it should be entitled on the strength of its scale in the market to have its products quoted by the biggest brokerages in the Irish market. "We're not looking for preferential treatment, just the opportunity to compete for the business. It's up to the client whether they want to avail of our products," said a spokesman for the company.
"It's a cosy club and we're trying to shake it up. The bottom line is these international people should be providing their clients with a range of the best available quotes in the market and, by excluding Quinn Direct, they're obviously not doing this."
The company has taken the provocative step of naming the brokerages that do not quote its prices in advertisements placed today in The Irish Times and another newspaper. It has booked more advertising space in the Sunday papers.
Quinn Direct claims in the advertisement to have been the fastest-growing and most competitive insurance company in the Irish market for 10 years. "We have achieved this despite a number of brokers, in particular the international brokers - eg AON, Coyle Hamilton Willis, Marsh - choosing not to offer our business insurance products," it says.
There was no comment last night from any of the brokerages when the text of the advertisement was read to their press representatives. However, a person familiar with the thinking in one brokerage said it did not quote Quinn products because the company had no security rating with an international agency and because its home, automobile and business insurance lines were not separated in its accounts.
A security rating with bodies such as Standard & Poors (S&P), Moodys or A&M Best measures the capacity of an insurer to meet its liabilities and is akin to the credit rating on a customer looking for a bank loan.
Quinn Direct's spokesman said there was no obligation on the company to take out such a rating and said this was being used as a "protective" cover by the brokerages. The company was not asking to have its products recommended by the brokerages, only that they quote its prices. He dismissed as "pedantic" the suggestion that Quinn Direct should provide segmented accounts.
Controlled by the entrepreneur Seán Quinn and his family, Quinn Direct Insurance made a pretax profit of €153 million in 2004. Mr Quinn also has interests in the cement, plastics, glass and hotel industries and his entire business made profits of more than €300 million for 2005. "Quinn does not have an S&P rating, but it's owned by the Quinn Group. Irish companies are well able to make up their own mind. Quinn Direct settles its claims much faster - within 14 weeks compared to up to 40 weeks for some international insurance companies," said the spokesman.
