Europe asks for public feedback on Irish car insurance sector's data sharing commitments
The EU said the actions reduced the possibility of more competitive prices and choice of suppliers for consumers seeking motor insurance.
The European Commission is inviting public comment on commitments offered by Irish insurance companies to address concerns that they restricted competition in the motor insurance market.
The Commission opened a formal investigation into the conduct of Insurance Ireland, the association that covers 90% of the Irish motor vehicle insurance market. The Commission took issue with certain conditions of access to the Insurance Link platform, a data-sharing system, which Insurance Ireland administers.
Last June, the Commission outlined its preliminary view that Insurance Ireland had breached EU antitrust rules by restricting competition by arbitrarily delaying or in practice denying access to Insurance Link.
#EUAntitrust Commission 🇪🇺seeks feedback on commitments offered by Insurance Ireland concerning access to its data sharing platform ⬇️https://t.co/0JoOnWHzIH pic.twitter.com/1G709MepxR
— EU Competition (@EU_Competition) February 25, 2022
They said it was also their view that restricted access to Insurance Link placed certain companies at a competitive disadvantage in comparison to companies that had access to the information exchange system and that this acted as a barrier to entry, reducing the possibility of more competitive prices and choice of suppliers for consumers seeking motor insurance.
In response, Insurance Ireland has offered a number of commitments to address their concerns including making access to Insurance Link independent from any membership to Insurance Ireland.
Following the consultation period, if the commitments address the competition concerns, the Commission may adopt a decision making them legally binding on the association.
