The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation into Insurance Ireland.
The probe will look at whether the conditions for accessing the group's data pooling system breach EU competition rules.
Insurance Ireland represents a majority of insurance companies operating here, and aims to "represent and enable the development of the insurance sector".
Its Insurance Link database is aimed at detecting any potential insurance fraud, as well as ensuring potential customers are provided with accurate information by insurance companies and agents.
The European Commission says it doesn't question that such pooling arrangements can help effective competition.
However, it will now look at whether "the conditions imposed on companies wishing to participate in and access the Insurance Link database may have had the effect of placing these companies at a competitive disadvantage on the Irish motor insurance market in comparison to companies already having access to the database".
Investigation
European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who's in charge of competition policy, noted that insurance is essential for all drivers in Europe.
She explained: "We are investigating whether companies wishing to offer their services on the Irish motor insurance market may have been unfairly prevented from accessing a data pool managed by Insurance Ireland for its member companies.
"This could potentially reduce Irish drivers' choice of motor insurance policies at competitive prices."
The Commission says the 'in-depth' investigation will be carried out as a matter of priority.
In a statement, Insurance Ireland said it is cooperating fully with the European Commission and that it is "confident its practices are fully compliant with competition law".
They said: "It is important to note that the European Commission has not reached any conclusions or made any findings in respect of Insurance Ireland.
"Insurance Ireland understands that the investigation is focused on the InsuranceLink database, which is a secure database that holds claims information as a tool to assist in fraud detection. InsuranceLink is accessed by Insurance Ireland members and non-members and has been in operation since 1988."
Today's announcement comes in the wake of inspections carried out in July 2017 in the Irish motor insurance market.
