The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is still considering investigating Lloyd's claims processing company Xchanging, after a complaint from its rival, Eurobase.

Eurobase first alerted the OFT to the activities of Xchanging, the supplier of underwriting systems to Lloyd's and the London Market, in March of this year.

Eurobase claims that Xchanging is abusing its monopoly position in the market by tendering aggressively for contracts to supply IT and software.

An OFT spokesman said: "We are currently in the stages of considering the complaint."

But he added that no formal investigation was, at present, underway.

An Xchanging spokesman confirmed that the company would be willing to assist the OFT in any enquiries.

"We would be happy to co-operate with the OFT if any investigation took place," he said.

Xchanging Ins-sure shareholders include Lloyd's (which has a 25% share), the London Underwriting Association (25%), and the US venture capitalist General Atlantic Partners (50%).

Last week Xchanging Ins-sure reported a pre-tax profit of £6.9m on a turnover of £47m.

The company said that Lloyd's and the LUA would receive £3.4m in dividends.

Eurobase International announced a pre-tax profit of £750,000 for the six months up to 30 September 2002.

Xchanging was fiercely criticised last year following allegations of missed targets on Lloyd's Market processing times.

But Xchanging has consistently hit its performance targets in 2003 with statistics showing that files are being processed in an average of three to four days.

The annual Xchanging Ins-sure subscription for each Lloyd's syndicate stands at £20,760.

This represents an increase on last year's subscription rate of £20,000.

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