EU antitrust enforcers accept Irish insurers group’s concessions

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust enforcers accepted on Thursday an offer from Irish insurers’ association Insurance Ireland to open up its data sharing platform to non-members and apply fair criteria to access it aimed at averting a possible hefty fine.

Last year, the European Commission charged the industry body, which covers over 90% of the Irish motor vehicle insurance market, with restricting certain insurers and their agents’ access to its data system called Insurance Link.

Earlier this year, Insurance Ireland submitted its concessions to the EU competition watchdog, which subsequently sought feedback from rivals and users.

“The Commission found that Insurance Ireland’s final commitments will ensure market participants’ access to the Insurance Link platform, and decided to make them legally binding on Insurance Ireland,” the EU executive said in a statement.

The concessions include allowing non-members to access Insurance Ireland’s information exchange system, adopting fair and non-discriminatory access criteria for all applicants from Ireland and other EU countries and also setting up a fair and non-discriminatory fee model.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)