FCA to reopen investigations into inflation of motor repairs

The FCA will take a fresh look at insurers and brokers inflating motor repair costs, its business plan has revealed.

The business plan said: “We will carry out diagnostic work to assess how far brokers and motor insurers are inflating claims through referrals to CMCs and keeping volume discounts from their own repairers.

“This will give us an understanding of the issues CMCs will need to address when we take over their regulation.”

The CMA last looked at the issue but decided to take not action. 

The FCA will also look at dual pricing. 

“If competition is working well in a market, it should not overly disadvantage existing customers over new customers,” the FCA said. “While many firms have made progress in putting customers more firmly at the centre of their business models, they need to further improve both competition and their standards of treatment for existing customers,”