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.
