QUINN-direct sees growth in spite of premium reductions

Insurance group, QUINN-direct, has said that it continues to reduce prices and anticipates further reductions in 2004 subject to follow-through on the Government's reform programme.

In its submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise & Small Business today, QUINN-direct said that since its last submission to the Committee in November 2003, premium reductions have continued across all products bringing about a total price fall of 25% over the past 18 months.

The company said that since last November, the average motor premium had fallen by over €60, and despite these reductions, the company is continues to enjoy considerable growth and further market penetration year to date with increases in all market segments.

In its latest submission, QUINN-direct said that personal injury awards were still much too high and should be reduced in line with the rest of Europe.

It said this could be achieved by making insurance fraud, including claim exaggeration, a criminal offence and in cases of exaggeration, the full claim should be struck out, with penalties, instead of the current practice where the award is simply reduced.

The company said it was had some concern over the Competition Authority's proposal for greater data sharing between insurance companies, as this could lead to anti-competitive issues emerging.

It also pointed out that the funding of the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland was perhaps the biggest single issue for new entrants to the Irish market.

General manager Kevin Lunney said: "QUINN-direct continues to be a catalyst for change. We have clearly led the way with lower prices in support of the Government reform programme and today we have pointed to further reforms that could lead to even more price reductions in the future."