The British Office of Fair Trading has recently accepted six formal commitments from six established car insurance companies within theUnited Kingdom. Apart from these car insurance providers, there are also two technological companies that have committed themselves to the OFT in regards with lessening the pricing data that is exchanged between the two. With these commitments, the investigation being led by the OFT and other auto insurance associations has been put to an end. This investigation was focused on the possibility of insurance companies fixing the price of car insurance premiums.

The commitment of both industries has been a result of an earlier investigation that was launched by the Office of Fair Trading. The OFT wanted to look into the possibility of exchanges of price data that infringes certain laws in terms of competition.

Clive Maxwell, OFT Executive Director, was caught saying, “An exchange of future pricing information between particular car insurance companies could ruin the competition between the other providers. Thus, customers will not be receiving the best possible value.”

“We have been able to accept commitments from different insurers to make sure that our concerns will be addresses. This commitment will ensure that car insurance companies will not share pertinent data among other companies. Hopefully, this will enable a healthier competition within the car insurance industry.”

These 6 insurance companies are as follows; AvivaUK, AXA Insurance, Ageas,LiverpoolVictoria,ZurichInsurance-UKand RBS Insurance. SSP Limited and Experian, on the other hand, are the two IT software companies that have joined this campaign.

During the previous, year the OFT saw that there would possibly be a price coordination within the car insurance industry. This is because of the market analysis tool which allowed insurers to view the different pricing details of other car insurance companies. This special marketing tool was launched by Experian.

According to the Office of Fair Trading, “The fact that insurance companies were able to see the future pricing details of other insurance providers would clearly raise the laws of competition and it could also be used to coordinate their respective prices. This way, policy holders are not able to seek for the best deal.”

The OFT has not concluded if they will infringe the ‘Competition Act’ for good. Yet with six of the most revered insurance companies in theUKwho are willing to stand by their commitments, the OFT is willing to stop their investigation after almost 12 months.