Quinn Insurance in Administration

[A Quinn Martin Production]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8604293.stm

Quinn workers briefed on future

Quinn Insurance staff will be briefed on Wednesday on the future of the company, which is in administration. A group of politicians met the head of the Irish central bank, Patrick Honohan and the head of Financial Regulations, Matthew Elderfield on Tuesday. At the meeting politicians stressed the importance of the employment created by Quinn and the need to lift the ban on the company doing business in the UK. But regulator chief, Mr Elderfield said regulations were there for a reason. He successfully petitioned the High Court in Dublin last week to have Quinn Insurance put into administration for breaching solvency rules - in simple terms how much money was set aside to cover claims. The regulator said some of that money was being used as security for bank loans made to other parts of the Quinn Group.
The fear was if the banks called in their loans then policy-holders could be left in the lurch, though Quinn insisted there was no chance of that happening. During the meeting on Tuesday Mr Elderfield and the head of the central bank, Mr Honohan acknowledged the importance of the employment created by Quinn Insurance but said they were there to do a job. Afterwards the cross-party group of politicians met a a delegation of Quinn staff to update them on the talks. The Quinn delegation is due to brief the rest of the workforce later today. The workers want the Irish arm of the business to be taken out of administration. They also want the ban on writing UK business to be lifted. The employees said they fear for their jobs if the Irish Government does not take steps to safeguard the future of the company. The majority of the work at the Enniskillen base is the underwriting of UK insurance policies, putting 700 jobs in County Fermanagh at risk. If the ban is lifted, then the UK Regulator will also have to become involved. The next step for the company will now depend on the financial report on Quinn Insurance being prepared by the two High Court-appointed administrators. It is expected the report will be given to the Financial Regulator by the end of this week in advance of the High Court case in Dublin on 12 April. Meanwhile, a rally organised by the Cavan Chamber of Commerce is due to take place in the town centre at 1730 BST in support of the workers at Quinn Insurance.


The UK Regulator??  Things might get worse....

[orangeman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8604293.stm

Quinn workers briefed on future

Quinn Insurance staff will be briefed on Wednesday on the future of the company, which is in administration. A group of politicians met the head of the Irish central bank, Patrick Honohan and the head of Financial Regulations, Matthew Elderfield on Tuesday. At the meeting politicians stressed the importance of the employment created by Quinn and the need to lift the ban on the company doing business in the UK. But regulator chief, Mr Elderfield said regulations were there for a reason. He successfully petitioned the High Court in Dublin last week to have Quinn Insurance put into administration for breaching solvency rules - in simple terms how much money was set aside to cover claims. The regulator said some of that money was being used as security for bank loans made to other parts of the Quinn Group.
The fear was if the banks called in their loans then policy-holders could be left in the lurch, though Quinn insisted there was no chance of that happening. During the meeting on Tuesday Mr Elderfield and the head of the central bank, Mr Honohan acknowledged the importance of the employment created by Quinn Insurance but said they were there to do a job. Afterwards the cross-party group of politicians met a a delegation of Quinn staff to update them on the talks. The Quinn delegation is due to brief the rest of the workforce later today. The workers want the Irish arm of the business to be taken out of administration. They also want the ban on writing UK business to be lifted. The employees said they fear for their jobs if the Irish Government does not take steps to safeguard the future of the company. The majority of the work at the Enniskillen base is the underwriting of UK insurance policies, putting 700 jobs in County Fermanagh at risk. If the ban is lifted, then the UK Regulator will also have to become involved. The next step for the company will now depend on the financial report on Quinn Insurance being prepared by the two High Court-appointed administrators. It is expected the report will be given to the Financial Regulator by the end of this week in advance of the High Court case in Dublin on 12 April. Meanwhile, a rally organised by the Cavan Chamber of Commerce is due to take place in the town centre at 1730 BST in support of the workers at Quinn Insurance.


The UK Regulator??  Things might get worse....

I'm an optomist- I think the ban will be lifted.

[A Quinn Martin Production]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8604293.stm

Quinn workers briefed on future

Quinn Insurance staff will be briefed on Wednesday on the future of the company, which is in administration. A group of politicians met the head of the Irish central bank, Patrick Honohan and the head of Financial Regulations, Matthew Elderfield on Tuesday. At the meeting politicians stressed the importance of the employment created by Quinn and the need to lift the ban on the company doing business in the UK. But regulator chief, Mr Elderfield said regulations were there for a reason. He successfully petitioned the High Court in Dublin last week to have Quinn Insurance put into administration for breaching solvency rules - in simple terms how much money was set aside to cover claims. The regulator said some of that money was being used as security for bank loans made to other parts of the Quinn Group.
The fear was if the banks called in their loans then policy-holders could be left in the lurch, though Quinn insisted there was no chance of that happening. During the meeting on Tuesday Mr Elderfield and the head of the central bank, Mr Honohan acknowledged the importance of the employment created by Quinn Insurance but said they were there to do a job. Afterwards the cross-party group of politicians met a a delegation of Quinn staff to update them on the talks. The Quinn delegation is due to brief the rest of the workforce later today. The workers want the Irish arm of the business to be taken out of administration. They also want the ban on writing UK business to be lifted. The employees said they fear for their jobs if the Irish Government does not take steps to safeguard the future of the company. The majority of the work at the Enniskillen base is the underwriting of UK insurance policies, putting 700 jobs in County Fermanagh at risk. If the ban is lifted, then the UK Regulator will also have to become involved. The next step for the company will now depend on the financial report on Quinn Insurance being prepared by the two High Court-appointed administrators. It is expected the report will be given to the Financial Regulator by the end of this week in advance of the High Court case in Dublin on 12 April. Meanwhile, a rally organised by the Cavan Chamber of Commerce is due to take place in the town centre at 1730 BST in support of the workers at Quinn Insurance.


The UK Regulator??  Things might get worse....

I'm an optomist- I think the ban will be lifted.

You might be right orangeman...but "light touch" regulation is not in vogue in London at the moment!

[supersarsfields]

There appears to be a problem with the Quinn products.  I have just completed a small building project at home and I was surprised at the atitude of tradesmen to key Quinn products.  My builder said he was happy to buy Quinn cement for basic block building but refused to use it for plastering because it was too difficult to work with and he ordered Blue Circle/Lafarge cement.  When it came to insulation he insisted on using Kingspan for the roof, ceiling boards and underfloor insulation but put Quinntherm in the wall cavities.  The plumber refused to use Quinn radiators because he claimed they were inferior to Myson and dispite not having the height required which Quinn had(24 inch) he rejected Quinn radiators in favour of lower but wider Myson rads.  The building boom which has fallen to 3% of its peak level in the Republic what effect has this had on the cement, insulation and radiators businesses?  Given the attitude at tradesman level, were these products aimed at low cost low quality building that fuelled the Celtic tiger bubble?  Anyone out there in the building trade have any experience of this attitude towards Quinn products?

In lauding the QI business, it appears that the practice of trying to force through settlement of claims has been forgotten.  The country is full of stories where the QI rep appears as soon as a claim is lodged to try and get an immediate settlement of the claim without recourse to legal advice.

And what is the problem with that TYP? It stopped Solicitors getting their fees and helped drive down the prices of Insurance. And has been a tactic that other insurance companies have taken on board to lower costs. It was never a case of forcing things through, in effect they helped to stop the need for a solicitor. Hardly a problem in my eyes unless your a solicitor. 

[A Quinn Martin Production]

There appears to be a problem with the Quinn products.  I have just completed a small building project at home and I was surprised at the atitude of tradesmen to key Quinn products.  My builder said he was happy to buy Quinn cement for basic block building but refused to use it for plastering because it was too difficult to work with and he ordered Blue Circle/Lafarge cement.  When it came to insulation he insisted on using Kingspan for the roof, ceiling boards and underfloor insulation but put Quinntherm in the wall cavities.  The plumber refused to use Quinn radiators because he claimed they were inferior to Myson and dispite not having the height required which Quinn had(24 inch) he rejected Quinn radiators in favour of lower but wider Myson rads.  The building boom which has fallen to 3% of its peak level in the Republic what effect has this had on the cement, insulation and radiators businesses?  Given the attitude at tradesman level, were these products aimed at low cost low quality building that fuelled the Celtic tiger bubble?  Anyone out there in the building trade have any experience of this attitude towards Quinn products?

In lauding the QI business, it appears that the practice of trying to force through settlement of claims has been forgotten.  The country is full of stories where the QI rep appears as soon as a claim is lodged to try and get an immediate settlement of the claim without recourse to legal advice.

And what is the problem with that TYP? It stopped Solicitors getting their fees and helped drive down the prices of Insurance. And has been a tactic that other insurance companies have taken on board to lower costs. It was never a case of forcing things through, in effect they helped to stop the need for a solicitor. Hardly a problem in my eyes unless your a solicitor.

Could be a problem if your claim is worth much more than QI offer you??

[Bogball XV]

How come ??

Cos of them horrible b**tards called personal guarantees

The Group owe over 2 billion to Anglo. Not cosy "come in for a chat Sean" Anglo but 2010 Anglo, not State owned and a CE who is as hard as slap of a hurl on a cold Sunday morning. Add a regenerated Financial Regulator to the mix and you get a situation for Sean Quinn that he cannot escape from.

Do the sums. He admitted losing 3 bn on Anglo plus the 2 bn now owed.........who among us has 5 bn to toss around? And this is before we think of the money he has lost in McInerney.

Quinn Group will survive as an entity........in some shape........but Sean Quinn nor the extended Quinn family may not have any say from now on.

Which is sad to see a man like Sean Quinn ruined over his own foolish exploits when before everything he touched turned to gold.

the family owe 2.8 bn to anglo, the group owes 1.2 bn, but not sure to who.

[Bogball XV]

I indeed may be wrong Gerry but would Anglo have lent him his losses - before tapping the Golden 10 to prop up the share price.

If they did then I'm out of here. I still have a USA green card somewhere with a valid Social Security Number.

better get searching then

[Rois]

Agreed supersarsfields, you don't have to accept the offer from the rep if you don't want to.

My brother in law acts as counsel for quite a lot of QI insurance cases in the north - there's plenty that still go to court.

I'm surprised the UK regulator is not already involved - insurance underwriters have to submit regular (quarterly I think) returns to the FSA in the UK, and they should have shown up an excess of liabilities in the UK business if it is under water.  So it appears that there are lots of legal complexities that we can only guess at, particularly as the ROI regulator appeared to have the authority to stop QI taking on business in the UK.

[supersarsfields]

There appears to be a problem with the Quinn products.  I have just completed a small building project at home and I was surprised at the atitude of tradesmen to key Quinn products.  My builder said he was happy to buy Quinn cement for basic block building but refused to use it for plastering because it was too difficult to work with and he ordered Blue Circle/Lafarge cement.  When it came to insulation he insisted on using Kingspan for the roof, ceiling boards and underfloor insulation but put Quinntherm in the wall cavities.  The plumber refused to use Quinn radiators because he claimed they were inferior to Myson and dispite not having the height required which Quinn had(24 inch) he rejected Quinn radiators in favour of lower but wider Myson rads.  The building boom which has fallen to 3% of its peak level in the Republic what effect has this had on the cement, insulation and radiators businesses?  Given the attitude at tradesman level, were these products aimed at low cost low quality building that fuelled the Celtic tiger bubble?  Anyone out there in the building trade have any experience of this attitude towards Quinn products?

In lauding the QI business, it appears that the practice of trying to force through settlement of claims has been forgotten.  The country is full of stories where the QI rep appears as soon as a claim is lodged to try and get an immediate settlement of the claim without recourse to legal advice.

And what is the problem with that TYP? It stopped Solicitors getting their fees and helped drive down the prices of Insurance. And has been a tactic that other insurance companies have taken on board to lower costs. It was never a case of forcing things through, in effect they helped to stop the need for a solicitor. Hardly a problem in my eyes unless your a solicitor.

Could be a problem if your claim is worth much more than QI offer you??

Then you don't accept and then go to a SOT. QD can't stop you going to a SOT. It only works when both parties are agreed. Saves the need for paying legal fees when not required. A main reason why this has been taken on board by other insurance companies.

[orangeman]

Claims are like a milking machine for solicitors and their network of experts.


That's why Quinn quite sensibly try and settle without the need for legal teams.

[haranguerer]

I'm surprised the UK regulator is not already involved - insurance underwriters have to submit regular (quarterly I think) returns to the FSA in the UK, and they should have shown up an excess of liabilities in the UK business if it is under water. 

I dont understand this either, particularly with the attention that the whole situation now has gathered. Surely the UK regulator will have been looking very closely at Quinn group - I know they're headquartered in the south, but being involved in the Uk insurance business is bound to mean that had they felt there was a risk they would also have taken action. Given that they didnt/havent, it can only be assumed that they dont see the problems the southern regulators do. And I know which regulator I'd place more faith in.

[muppet]

I'm surprised the UK regulator is not already involved - insurance underwriters have to submit regular (quarterly I think) returns to the FSA in the UK, and they should have shown up an excess of liabilities in the UK business if it is under water. 

I dont understand this either, particularly with the attention that the whole situation now has gathered. Surely the UK regulator will have been looking very closely at Quinn group - I know they're headquartered in the south, but being involved in the Uk insurance business is bound to mean that had they felt there was a risk they would also have taken action. Given that they didnt/havent, it can only be assumed that they dont see the problems the southern regulators do. And I know which regulator I'd place more faith in.

Despite the jingoism, ironically I believe he is actually British.

[haranguerer]

Who?

The financial regulator? It isn't a person...

[sammymaguire]

Who?

The financial regulator? It isn't a person...

[haranguerer]

No Sammy: thats like putting up a picture of the pope when asked what is the catholic church.

Hes the head of regulation, the financial regulator is a body, not, as I said, a person.