Two Family Money readers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Automobile Association's (AA) motor insurance offerings.

Following publication of a recent survey on motor insurance premiums, two female readers attempted to obtain a quote from the organisation's Suffolk Street office without satisfaction.

Ms O'C claims the AA told her it would not give insurance to individuals who had not had a policy before. "If you haven't had a policy in your own name for two years, then you are ineligible," she claims.

AA spokesman Mr Conor Faughnan says the association's criteria for quoting motor insurance stipulate that all proposers must have a minimum of one year's no claims discount or one year's driving experience as a named driver.

"As our advertising makes clear, we specialise in the market for customers from 28 years and upwards," he says.

Ms O'C also objects to the way AA presented its recent survey. "Should it not state it is a broker and would it not be the same price as any broker you go to, or does it get a subsidy which would give it an advantage over other brokers?"

Mr Faughnan says that, technically speaking, AA is not a broker, it is an insurance intermediary.

"A broker takes an individual's profile and shops around for the best value. An intermediary uses a large group of customers to negotiate bulk discounts from insurance providers," he says.

AA says it is a big player in the market and it surveys the main players regularly. The association believes it offers competitive prices on good products but says the main message for consumers, as always, is to shop around for the best value.

The second reader, Ms McK, believes the AA is simply acting as a broker for Hibernian Insurance. Mr Faughnan says: "We're not insurance underwriters and don't pretend to be."

The association is an intermediary for Hibernian but not exclusively so, he says. The AA has products with all the major insurance companies. "In all cases, these are `bespoke products' negotiated by the AA for the needs of our client base," Mr Faughnan says.

Due to the association's high number of clients, it is able to have insurance companies design products specifically for AA customers.

"The underwriter varies but it is always an AA product which has been negotiated by us," he says.

As such, individual AA customers were placed with insurance companies where the association had been able to secure the best value, he says.