UK: CMA wants exclusive car insurance deals to hit the breaks

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has submitted its final report of the state of competition in the private motor insurance market, and among the revelations of the case include the CMA’s ruling that exclusive car insurance offers between price comparison websites must end.

According to reports, the CMA is proposing a ban on these exclusive deals after finding that certain contractual agreements between price comparison websites and insurers were preventing insurers from promoting their products on other online platforms at cheaper prices. While the watchdog agreed that these agreements help consumers find a good deal on car insurance, but officials said they “want to see an end to clauses which restrict and insurer’s ability to price its products differently on different online channels.”

A ban on these exclusivity deals would promote competition, the regulator found.

An investigation into the industry was conducted over the last two years, launched first by the Competition Commission and later taken up by the CMA.

Full content: The Guardian

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