Irish Competition Commission warns insurers about talking up prices

Heather Irvine from Norton Rose Fulbright.

The Irish Independent has reported that the Irish Competition Commission has called out the head of Insurance Ireland (which represents 95% of the domestic market) for saying that car insurance rates were set to rise by 25% in 2016 and that there was “further upward pressure on premiums”.

The Commission said that statements of this nature may result in a degree of unspoken co-ordination of pricing decisions and may therefore constitute a form of price-signalling to industry participants which could amount to an anti-competitive practice.

This is a good reminder to insurance industry representatives to be careful how they discuss pricing of insurance products.

First published by Financial Institutions Legal Snapshot.