Italy’s antitrust authority said on Wednesday it had opened an investigation into Italian insurers UnipolSai and Generali and Germany’s Allianz for alleged unfair commercial practices in their car-insurance businesses.
The regulator said the three companies had allegedly made it difficult for clients to properly access accident files. This might have hampered claims and masked the criteria for quantifying compensation, it added.
The competition authority, the AGCM, said it had carried out inspections of the offices of the three companies on Nov. 26 with Italy’s finance police.
Allianz and Generali both said they were working with the regulator.
Allianz added it was confident “to be able to demonstrate the attention that the company has always dedicated to the issues under investigation”.
Generali highlighted its “correctness of all practices towards customers” and added that “its conduct and relationship with customers are always based on the principles of maximum fairness and transparency”.
UnipolSai had no immediate comment.
The three companies are the top motor insurers in Italy in terms of premiums, according to 2019 data from insurance industry lobby Ania.
Main Photo: The Mole Antonelliana lit up with the colors of the Italian flag during the ongoing Coronavirus emergency, in Turin, Italy. EPA-EFE/TINO ROMANO
