Europe will investigate the abuses of insurers after the complaint of Ganvam, Cetraa, Conepa and Fagenauto

MADRID, 13 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament has admitted for processing the complaint of four associations, representing national repair shops, against the Spanish State for failing to comply with four community directives and several articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The president of the Committee on Petitions, Dolors Montserrat, has asked the European Commission to investigate the possible breach of community regulations that allow bad practices by insurers in their relationship with repair shops and, in addition, has transferred the complaint to the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) of the European Parliament.

Specifically, they have denounced that the insurers set the hourly prices without respecting the one established by the workshop and the amount to be paid for the claim, without the workshops being recognized for all the working hours they invest in the repairs, which affects the amounts they pay to the workshop for them, being less than the real cost of the repair.

On the other hand, the scales drawn up by companies linked to or participated in by the insurers are used so that the experts assess the time and cost of the repair materials that they must assume, act to the detriment of the workshop, since the scale does not have to adjust to the treatment of the repair of each workshop or its business structure.

The complainants have pointed out that in Spain there may be a tacit collusion between insurers due to the downward trend in their prices. Thus, the Spanish repair market would not function correctly, negatively affecting the balance between its components. Therefore, the associations have requested to investigate whether there is a tacit collusion between the companies, which is an anti-competitive practice in the insurance market.

On the other hand, they have indicated that the economic dependence of the experts does not guarantee that they act with strict objectivity when assessing the damage and setting the price/hour of the repair. While some insurers impose on the workshops the suppliers of spare parts or the type of spare part to be installed.

They have also pointed out that there are companies that market policies that prevent customers from freely choosing the workshop to repair their vehicle, being forced to repair it in a limited number of companies without other workshops being able to adhere to this type of agreement, restricting free competition. and consumer freedom of choice.

In this sense, the associations have denounced that the client is pressured to take his vehicle to certain workshops, distorting the market by limiting and restricting the free choice of workshop by the consumer, violating the principle of equality and taking advantage of the ignorance of the insured.

The associations reporting these situations are the Spanish Confederation of Automobile and Related Repair Shops (Cetraa); the Spanish Federation of Professional Automotive Entrepreneurs (Conepa); the Federation of Associations of Official Automotive Agents (Fagenauto), and the National Association of Motor Vehicle Sellers, Repair and Spare Parts (Ganvam).