A regulator has published new rules it hopes will boost competition to help bring down the cost of premiums in the UK's £11bn private motor insurance market.
The clampdown may knock up to £20 off a typical bill under the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) plan.
Among its headline measures is a ban on exclusivity agreements between price comparison websites and insurers that prevent companies making their products available more cheaply online.
The CMA also demanded better information for consumers on the costs and benefits of no-claims bonus protection.
But it "reluctantly" decided not to recommend any changes to the current system of providing replacement hire cars for drivers following an accident, despite the fact they increase the average insurance premium by £3 a year.
The CMA said there was "no appropriate remedy", but the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said it was "bad news for consumers" and said the watchdog had "ducked" the issue.
The measures follow wider efforts to bring down the cost to drivers of personal injury claims and fraud, with premiums falling 19% in the last year alone to a four-year low.
Alasdair Smith, chairman of the private motor insurance investigation group at the CMA, said: "There are over 25 million privately registered cars in the UK and we think these changes will benefit motorists who are currently paying higher premiums as a result of the problems we've found.
"There need to be improvements to the way price comparison websites operate.
"They certainly help motorists look for the best deal, and this in turn has led insurers to compete more intensely, but we want to see an end to clauses which restrict an insurer's ability to price its products differently on different online channels.
"We expect this to lead to greater competition between price comparison websites."
He also moved to explain the lack of action on the cost of post-accident services to drivers who are not at fault in an accident, in particular temporary replacement cars.
He said: "Reluctantly we have had to conclude that we cannot see an effective way of addressing this problem fully short of a fundamental change in the law and, whilst this problem does increase premiums for motorists, the extent of the problem is not as high as was at first envisaged and does not warrant such a radical measure.
"However, we do wish to challenge the benchmarks typically used in awards for non-fault replacement cars, which do not reflect the cost of the services provided and which we think should be lower."
James Dalton, the ABI's head of motor insurance, said: "Today's CMA report is the culmination of three years of work and has cost taxpayers millions of pounds.
"The fact that it fails to do anything to address the excessive costs of replacement vehicles - a problem that the CMA itself identified - will be a bitter pill to swallow for honest motorists.
"Far from reducing the cost of car insurance, the CMA's inaction simply entrenches the business models of some replacement vehicle providers who profit from inflating car hire charges at the consumer's expense.
"The reality is that the CMA has ducked this challenge and when regulators fail, politicians need to step in to act."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Car Insurance: New Rules To Reduce Costs
Dengan url
http://temannyakawanya.blogspot.com/2014/09/car-insurance-new-rules-to-reduce-costs.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Car Insurance: New Rules To Reduce Costs
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Car Insurance: New Rules To Reduce Costs
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar