Anti-competitive behaviour: motor insurance

Article 101 of the Treaty For European Union prohibits any agreement which has the object or effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition within the EU. That provision applies to insurance agreements, although there is a limited block exemption for certain forms of co-operation agreements between insurers, in Commission Regulation 267/2010/EC.

Where the Block Exemption does not apply, article 101 is fully effective where the agreement has effect beyond the national borders of a single member state. The meaning of the terms of article 101 in the insurance context was discussed in Allianz Hungaria Biztosito Zrt, v Gazdasagi Versenyhivatal [2013] EUECJ C-32/11, a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union on a reference from the courts of Hungary.