The recent actions of the Authority Antitrust on inefficiencies in the competitive insurance industry.
Over the past six months, the Authority shall ensure that competition and the market has addressed the issue on two occasions concerning the competitive aspects of the TPL industry.
On 6 May 2010 ( Provv. No. 21091/2010), in fact, the Authority carried out a '' hearing 'on the procedure of direct compensation and its effects on the competitiveness of the sector. The Authority, remember, has always pushed hard on this issue, as " this innovative method for compensation [...] involves the extension to competition from traditional grants and guarantees, to the service liquidators, with potential incentive effects than the propensity to mobility of insured "as well as establish a" clearer and direct relationship between company and insured .
However, despite more than three years have passed since the introduction of this new compensation philosophy, " the market shows evidence of some persistent 's critical," as it is, contrary to expectations, that " the level of premiums charged by companies for contracts RCA would have known in recent years and significant increases in generalized , with increases ' average' of 15%, up to more than 30% for the insurance of motorcycles.
In order to analyze the reasons that led to such important and unexpected increases, the Authority therefore expressed the need to conduct " a reliable reconstruction of the price and the actual cost of the RCA field "and a review of the" terms and [of] techniques with which is determined l’importo del forfait, i parametri ed i criteri sottesi alle decisioni adottate di volta in volta in ordine all’introduzione di correttivi al sistema di compensazione, nonché le diverse politiche di controllo dei costi dei risarcimenti adottate dalle compagnie ”.
L’Autorità ha, quindi, richiesto e ricevuto da poco tali dati dalle Compagnie di assicurazione, dati che sono in fase di elaborazione e i cui risultati saranno, all’esito, pubblicati.
Ma successivamente, precisamente il 29 settembre u.s., il Presidente dell’Autorità, Antonio Catricalà, ha esposto più nel dettaglio le caratteristiche degli aspetti concorrenziali in the insurance market before the Committee on Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Senate.
President Catricalà from a fundamental fact, namely that " despite the beginning of liberalization has been decreed, in implementation of Community law, since 1994, has not enabled an effective competitive process and therefore not has had a positive effect on containing price . If, however, this feature may not be rare, even internationally, in markets such as insurance or finance, where the services are chosen by the consumer " drawing on suggestions of certain brokers which recognizes a special trust (the agent as the clerk to the bank teller) ", however you specify" more critical [...] supply-side "in the Italian market.
fact addition to "openly collusive behavior " verified and attested by the Authority in some instances (eg, exchange of information through a common organization, in 2000), there are other "critical structure not easily solved. "
A, ad esempio, è rappresentata dal “ numero rilevante di partecipazioni incrociate ” tra le diverse Compagnie, nonché dalla “ moltiplicazione degli incarichi di direzione per le stesse persone fisiche che si trovano nella direzione di imprese che dovrebbero essere tra loro concorrenti ”. L’Autorità cita, a riguardo, una sua indagine conoscitiva di fine 2008, dove emerge che, nelle Compagnie di Assicurazione che rappresentano circa il 90% del mercato attivo del settore, il 71% “ presentava legami costituiti da amministratori comuni con i propri concorrenti ”.
Hence, logically, the Authority notes the "non-competitive outcomes " of entrepreneurial teams mutually interlaced with each other, as was underlined in 2006 when the acquisition of Toro Ass.ni by Generali was part of the reality in most broader logic of " constitute or strengthen a collective dominant position " between General-Toro and Fondiaria-Sai.
early as 2003, the date on which dates from the last sector Consultation on the RCA, moreover, nella quale erano già state segnalate le criticità inerenti un continuo accrescimento dei premi, una sostanziale immutabilità delle quote di mercato e un limitato ingresso di operatori stranieri nel mercato italiano, le Compagnie stesse avevano indicato nel sistema del risarcimento c.d. ‘indiretto’ modalità di servizio che non incentivavano “ comportamenti virtuosi da parte dei diversi soggetti coinvolti ” e che comportavano che l’assicurato rimaneva “ di fatto indifferente alla qualità del servizio nella fase di liquidazione dei sinistri ”.
But despite the creation of new forms of Internet distribution, inclusion of the prohibition of the imposition of minimum prices (2006) and, most importantly, the inclusion in 2007 of the mechanism of direct compensation, the rigidity and weaknesses of the Market Insurance, in Italy, do not appear, " at first glance, be any better, not having had the effect of" steer the market towards more efficient outcomes .
fact, a distanza di quasi tre anni dall’introduzione del nuovo meccanismo risarcitorio, sono stati “ registrati fenomeni di sensibile incremento del premio ” accompagnati, dal 2009, anche da un “ peggioramento del rapporto tra costo dei sinistri e premi ( Loss Ratio ) ”, che sottolinea come neanche i costi dei sinistri risultano essere sotto controllo.
Ad un aumento dei premi che sarebbe arrivato, per alcune categorie di veicoli, anche a 20-30 punti percentuali, viene richiamata anche Eurostat data confirm that during the period June 2009 - June 2010, reported an increase in the average Italian rate of 7.7%, compared with a European average of 5.4%.
these increases, then you add also "non-transparent mode which increases the bonus is made known to Consumer "issue on which the Authority has received many complaints from consumer groups and will be subject to independent investigation.
Another very delicate, is the one concerning the criteria for compensation claims costs between individual companies, defined by the system " rather intricate, however, in which many questions are left undefined, "and with the addition of the" poor knowability of the work and determinations of the Technical Committee that [...] must [...] calculate the value to be based compensation ", activities for which, moreover," not is no form of advertising .
The Authority, therefore, in the presence of these elements, shows that, under these opacity of the system, " open space decisions are not fully efficient, or even opportunistic on the part of operators and can be made effective control .
In addition, the Authority also complained about the fact that he has not seen materializing in the interests of consumers, the possibility (art. 14, co.I, Presidential Decree No 254/06) to provide for reductions in insurance premium in respect of forms of liquidated damages "in specific form (ie: repair by means of contracted garages). There, where it has already happened, this was without result, and premium reductions by airlines that use this type of compensation as the only way, and not as an alternative option (and cheaper).
The injury to the consumer, from this point of view, it is therefore be twofold: firstly, do not get how 'alternative' compensation, inherently less expensive (including the Company), on the other, only in cases of adoption (as was), see the reduced range of workshops reference, the selection criteria and the Convention may also not be always reasonable, and do not have any kind of prior information concerning these subjects trustees: appearance, the latter, as pointed out explicitly the Authority, may also determining the choice of a company over another.
As a direct result of these practices, then other problems arise legate alla Concorrenza ed al Mercato, ovvero ci si chiede “ se queste prassi commerciali, anziché determinare gli attesi contenimenti dei costi, in realtà non si siano risolte soltanto in uno svantaggio per le carrozzerie di minori dimensioni non fidelizzate a grandi compagnie ”.
Ma probabilmente la criticità principale evidenziata dall’Autorità è ancora un’altra. Contrariamente infatti ad ogni aspettativa economica relativa all’adozione del modello di risarcimento diretto, al di là di una apprezzabile velocizzazione sui tempi di liquidazione dei danni, l’altro effetto riscontrato è che “ si sarebbe amplificata la tendency to underestimate the damages awarded to its insured by companies .
These elements so common to the entire insurance market, have meant that the propensity to switch insurance company has remained extremely low, although slightly improved (from 6.3% in 2006 to 9.3% in 2009) , compared to European levels much higher (in this regard, the Authority cites the figure of 45% UK) ...
On this point, it also limited the effectiveness of the so-called 'planned ' cured ISVAP , whose directions are limited to the tariff profiles, "without provide no information on the contractual terms of the different policies that can be differentiated between them in a also very important. "
In summary, therefore, the Authority reiterates the absolute necessity of its investigation, " time to understand why the model theoretically efficient direct compensation, in fact does not seem to be able to adequately contain costs and awards, drawing on a sample that represents corporate " over 80% market share in premiums collected annually .
Again, the outcome of that investigation, we dunque verificare e, come suol dirsi, ‘toccare con mano’ le singolari qualità, anche in questo settore, del ‘calabrone’ Italia.
Avv. Antonio M. Polito
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