I car insurance prices are expected to increase in the coming months. the fault lies withinflation, which has a "significant effect on the prices of repairs and spare parts", explains Luigi Federico Signorini, president of IVASS, in annual considerations on the activity of the Institute.
In all likelihood, therefore, the downward trend that has long characterized the prices of motor liability insurance in our country will soon stop. In the first quarter of this year Italian motorists paid on average 353 euros, a figure down by 38% compared to 10 years ago, but still higher than the average of the four major European countries.
The black box problem
Inflation, however, is not the only problem. Another critical issue concerns the black boxinstalled today on over 20% of insured cars in Italy. The device records driving style, encouraging drivers to behave responsibly. According to IVASS, with the black box on board the risk of accidents drops by about 20% and for this reason the companies are willing to lower the rates.
Recently, however, the Institute has noticed another phenomenon that instead of reducing prices it increases them. Basically, since the data on driving habits cannot be transferred from one insurance to another, for the driver "who adopts the black box, the probability of changing company upon expiry of the contract is reduced by around 60%, mitigating the competitive drive”, explains Signorini.
Ivass estimates based on a sample of around 4 million contracts suggest that companies take advantage of this dynamic, increasing motor liability prices to customers with the black box over time. “If this fact were confirmed – continues Signorini – it could not evade the attention of the regulators for long”.
In Great Britain, for example, they have tackled the problem with a rule which, with the same risk, prevents higher prices from being applied to old customers than to newly insured ones.
Signorini, however, believes that the best solution would be another: "The problem should be mitigated by making the few key data detectable from the black boxes available and transferable between companies".
Read IVASS annual report.
