Much remains to be done, especially in the area of liberalization and motor liability insurance. This is what emerges from the first comments on the draft law on competition approved yesterday by the House and then passed to the examination of the Senate. In particular, the National Association of Insurance Companies "expresses strong concern" about the content of the text, while the Antitrust Authority appreciates the green light for "new rules in different fields", but believes more can be done for the "needs of consumers".
The insurance companies hope that the Senate "can make substantial changes" to the bill, he writes the Ania, underlining that “it must be strengthened and made more efficient the fight against insurance fraudso as to contribute to reduction in the cost of claims and continue on downward trend in motor liability prices occurred over the past three years (-20%)". The text approved yesterday “is very different, as far as the compensation tables for serious damages from road accidents are concerned, from the one originally presented by the Government – continues the Association -. It is not up to the insurers to determine what is the appropriate level of compensation, but a higher level of compensation is reflected in a higher price of insurance”.
Furthermore, Ania still maintains, “the prediction according to which policyholders endowed with black box who have not been involved in accidents for 5 years can have preferential treatment regardless of the objective risk conditions, such as, for example, the quality of the traffic, the road maintenance conditions and the frequency of accidents. These new regulations, designed to reduce the cost of insurance for motorists in areas particularly at risk, would lead to an increase in the premiums paid by policyholders in areas of Italy where the possibility of causing an accident is less high”.
Finally, “it should also be emphasized that the forecast of discounts entrusted to the evaluation of IVASS it is in clear contrast with the principle of tariff freedom established by European regulations and would expose Italy to a certain sanction for violation of Community law, as well as to the elimination of illegitimate regulations - concludes Ania -. Also with regard to the fight against fraud, the approved provision does not go in the right direction: in fact, the provisions regarding the reduction of the time required to report an accident, the fight against the presence of false witnesses, as well as the incentive to use of approved body shops and the prohibition of credit assignment. All these measures would have contributed to eliminating the differences in the cost of motor liability policies between Italy and the other European countries”.
The president of 'Antitrust, John Pitruzzella, underlines instead that “for the first time, for nine years now, Parliament has approved a law that establishes new rules in various fields. On numerous matters, the reports sent annually by the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority have been implemented. On others, there is still much work to be done in terms of liberalization. I hope that in the second parliamentary passage, in the Senate, the definitive text will be able to take into account the needs and expectations of consumers in an even more complete and effective way".
