Firms to share less information

Seven motor insurers have agreed to limit the amount of data they share with each other after the Office of Fair Trading warned their actions could reduce competition.

The insurers, including industry giants such as Aviva and Axa Insurance, had been exchanging details on prices through a market analysis tool, run by Experian, known as Whatif? Private Motor. The OFT said that the tool increased the risk of price fixing among insurers and raised competition law concerns, although it said its use did not constitute a secret cartel.

In response to the investigation, insurers and IT software providers have agreed that they will no longer be able to access each other's pricing information through Whatif?.