The European Commission has charged Insurance Ireland with restricting competition in the motor insurance market, thereby breaching EU antitrust rules.
Insurance Ireland is an association of Irish insurers. Its members include FBD Insurance, RSA, Aviva and Zurich. It covers 90% of the country’s motor vehicle insurance market.
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Insurance Ireland administers and sets the conditions of access to Insurance Link.
It comprises a non-life insurance claims data pool and a facility for Insurance Link users to request certain data about such claims.
Insurance Link enables its users to better assess risk and to detect and defend themselves against potential fraud.
The Commission’s preliminary findings show that “Insurance Ireland arbitrarily delayed or de facto denied the access of certain insurers and their agents to Insurance Link.”
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By GlobalDataThe competition policy in-charge Executive VP Margrethe Vestager said: “We have concerns that certain insurers and their agents were put at a competitive disadvantage because Insurance Ireland denied or delayed access to its data-sharing system, compiling valuable information on insurance claims.
“This prevented competitive entry of new players and thus reduced Irish drivers’ choice of motor insurance policies at competitive prices. Non-discriminatory access to data sharing systems is important to foster competition in markets relying on data.”
The commission opened a probe against Insurance Ireland in May 2019.
The Irish Independent quoted Insurance Ireland as saying that it “notes that the European Commission has decided to issue a statement of objections in respect of its ongoing investigation into Insurance Link, an anti-fraud tool.
“It is important to note that the statement of objections sets out the European Commission’s preliminary views only.”
Insurance Ireland said it will respond to commissions charges in the coming weeks.
