Quinn Direct

"THE Company has a panel of Regional Claims Managers which investigate and settle claims on its behalf. This panel is made up of people with a variety of backgrounds . . . less than 10% are ex-garda. It does not, nor has it ever, included serving garda. Exgarda have no access to information from garda computers and records and we have no reason to believe that any ex-garda on our panel accessed any such information in relation to Quinn Direct claims.

"The company has never had a strategy of offering incentives to plaintiff solicitors to speed up their claims procedure or recommend a reduced settlement. Plaintiff solicitors are paid based on a percentage of the award, therefore it is always in their interest to maximise the amount of that award. We have never seen any evidence of plaintiff solicitors not acting in their clients' best interests. This is a very serious allegation and one that should be taken up with the Bar Council or the solicitors concerned.

"The company's increase in profits since 2001 is a result of its overall efficiency and a general increase in profitability of the insurance market in Ireland as the overall cost of claims has reduced."

AXA

A spokesman for Axa said the memorandum of understanding with the gardai was a pilot project and the gardai indicated that if it was a success, the same type of agreement would be available to all other companies.

"Any competitive issues therefore don't arise, " he said. "We were in on a pilot project but the other companies will have the option of signing a similar deal."

In terms of access to examine a third party policyholder's vehicle without their express permission (because all vehicles would be taken to an Axa-approved storage unit), he said that might be the case in theory, but it didn't arise in practice.

"If the third party was making a claim against Axa, there would be no need to examine the car. If a claim is lodged, then the car would have to be examined anyway and one of our engineers would just make an appointment to go to the storage area or garage and examine their vehicle, " he said.

An Garda Siochana

DESPITE the Sunday Tribune submitting a series of questions via email and numerous calls to the Garda Press Office last Thursday and Friday, An Garda declined to comment on this story. A spokesman said: "The matter has not been dealt with yet. It will probably be Monday before it is dealt with."

Tony Hickey, former assistant commissioner of An Garda Siochana "I DID some work for Axa after I retired, and as far as Axa were concerned, it was made clear that serving gardai would not be employed by them. I only worked for Axa so I do not know what other insurance companies did."

Hickey confirmed to the Sunday Tribune that he was not approached by Axa until after he was retired from the force.

The Law Society

THERE is a growing trend of representatives of insurance companies approaching accident victims either in hospital or recently discharged and offering sums of money in settlement before the claimant has even consulted a solicitor, according to the Law Society's director general Ken Murphy.

"We are getting a lot of reports that one company in particular appears to be using representatives, often ex-guards, to approach people, often in hospital, and offer an amount that might seem very large at the time but could be a fraction of what they are entitled to, " Ken Murphy told the Sunday Tribune.

"These people are often vulnerable because of what has happened, and in some instances you might have foreign nationals whose English isn't very good.

"It is a growing pattern of behaviour which we think is very worrying. You would have to conclude that it is an organised policy in one company at least." He refused to name the company which was the source of most of the reports to the society.

On the subject of plaintiff solicitors receiving extra payments or incentive fees from Quinn Direct, as per the company memo, Murphy said a solicitor's fundamental obligation was to represent the interests of their client and their client only.

"If that was going on, it would certainly be worrying, but we in the society have never received any evidence or reports that that might be the case."

Diarmuid Hallinan, asst commissioner at the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner "IN relation to whether it is a criminal offence for a non-garda or a retired garda to access the Pulse system, from a data protection perspective, it is an offence under section 22.1 of the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003: " 'A person who (a) obtains access to personal data, or obtains any information constituting such data, without the prior authority of the data controller or data processor by whom the data are kept, and (b) discloses the data or information to another person, shall be guilty of an offence.'

"It is a basic principle of data protection that personal information given or obtained for one purpose cannot be disclosed for any other purpose.

"The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is close to finalising a comprehensive Data Protection Code of Practice with An Garda Siochana that will cover issues such as this. It is important to stress that, based on the experience of this office, An Garda Siochana takes data protection issues very seriously.

"It would be of great concern to this office if the motor insurance sector was shown to be involved in the practices alleged in your communication. We will vigorously pursue any such practices within the motor insurance sector."

The Irish Insurance Federation

"I DON'T think there are any competitive issues arising from the agreement between Axa and An Garda Siochana, " said IIF CEO Mike Kemp.

"We were aware that Axa were running this scheme on a pilot basis with the gardai in the southeast. I understand that the garda view is that they would like to roll it out and offer it to other companies so I don't think that competition is an issue.

"In terms of offering the towaway service to non-Axa insured motorists, I understand that the service is offered to them and they have an option to take it or not.

"In relation to serving gardai working for insurance companies, that is a matter for the insurance company concerned and garda management.

"In terms of the insurance companies getting access to garda intelligence, I don't think that arises. Probably what they mean is that the gardai have a familiarity with road traffic law which is relevant to claims handling.

"I understand that Axa are pleased with the pilot scheme. The gardai have not contacted us about it. If the gardai came to us, we would be happy to talk to them about it."