It's been a rough ride for the Irish insurer.
Irish insurer Quinn has been on an extraordinary journey ever since it entered the UK market.
The enormous €3.25m fine it received from the Irish financial regulator last week is just one of a number of challenges that the company has faced in recent years.
Quinn opened its first UK office in Manchester in September 2003, to specialise in writing liability cover in the construction sector in the North West. In the five years that followed it continued to make the headlines.
Less than a year later after opening in Manchester it was investigated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which was looking in to allegations that employers' liability (EL) policies being sold by Irish insurer were in breach of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.
Quinn went on to hit back against the allegations reported by Insurance Times, saying the company had not been contacted by either the UK government or regulatory authorities over its policies and that it was in compliance with all relevant regulation and legislation. But the insurer confirmed it would be changing the wording of the standard EL policy it sold in Northern Ireland (NI), which contained several exclusions, in order to bring it into line with regulation.
Then, a year later, through the Freedom of Information Act Insurance Times was able to reveal how the Department of Work and Pensions forced Quinn to change its EL policy. The documents detailed how the DWP's lawyers had advised that Quinn's policy was in fact in breach of the Act, leaving policyholders at risk of trading illegally.
In the midst of that battle, Quinn begun selling direct motor insurance in England, prompting calls from the market that the aggressive strategy would push motor rates down further in the already soft market.
In February 2006, Quinn then launched an attack on global brokers Marsh, Willis and Aon by claiming that they do not recommend its products to clients. The insurer launched an advertising campaign in the Republic of Ireland naming the three brokers that it alleged did not use its products, or even quote its prices to clients.
More than a year later, Quinn was involved in a legal action in which it was alleged that it had pressured a policyholder into accepting a low payment for a multi-million pound claim. The dispute centered on a claim for €54m (£36.4m) by timber company Murray Timber Products following a fire at its Galway plant in 2005. The case was settled by agreement before the court gave judgment.
Finally, earlier this year, Quinn Insurance was removed from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) list of approved professional indemnity insurers. It follows the insurer’s decision to withdraw from Moody’s credit ratings.
The current events at Quinn culminate in what has been a chequered few years for the insurer. Its decision to also withdraw from writing insurance in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands is no surprise in what are difficult times in the global economy.
