E-commerce: OFT sends out data sharing warning to insurance industry

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) must clamp down on anti-competitive data sharing in the insurance industry, according to consumer watchdogs Which and Consumer Focus.

The demand followed a warning from the OFT that its recent investigation, which identified an increased risk of price coordination among motor insurers using a market analysis tool Whatif? Private Motor from Experian, could potentially have wider implications.

Clive Maxwell, executive director at the OFT, said: "We used our discretion to limit our investigation's scope to reach a quick and effective outcome. However, we are aware that similar market analysis tools exist in motor and other