Bill for Quinn collapse jumps to €1bn - report

Irish policyholders may have to pay close to €1bn (£825m) to cover the cost of failed insurer Quinn Insurance’s UK losses, the Irish Independent reports.

Initial estimates of the cost were €600m. The increase is partly because of the administrators’ greater certainty about the ultimate losses and partly because of a deterioration in claims experience.

The paper said Quinn’s administrators, Paul McCann and Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton, have submitted new figures to Ireland’s Department of Finance providing for a demand of close to €1bn from Ireland’s Insurance Compensation Fund.

The fund is supported by levies on Irish policyholders’ general insurance policies. The Irish Independent said the latest news means consumers may have to pay the 2% levy related to Quinn on their policies for more than 15 years to cover the losses.

The latest available figure for losses at Quinn Insurance Limited is €785m.  

Quinn was bought last year by a consortium of US insurer Liberty Mutual and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank.