AGCM

PRESS RELEASE

ONE MILLION EURO FINE ON CARIGE ASSICURAZIONI FOR AGGRESSIVE DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES

A one million euro fine on Carige Assicurazioni for “unfair trade practices, insofar as being aggressive”: these were the practices that, according to the Italian Antitrust Authority, the company followed in order to recover amounts due.

This conduct took the form of a systematic forwarding of summonses to the office of only one court, different from that which is territorially competent for consumers residing in other jurisdictions. These summonses, moreover, indicated a fictitious date for the first hearing, without the case having even been registered. Specifically, it appears that summonses were sent to thousands of consumers, regardless of their respective residences, to the court of Milan.

According to the Antitrust Authority, this conduct was not meant to exercise a legitimate right to recover the amounts due in court but to establish an undue influence on the average consumer: and this would lead to the view that it would be preferable to settle the requested amount rather than to leave oneself open to litigation. Summonses forwarded to a place other than the court having the competent territorial jurisdiction are in fact considered apt to exert psychological pressure on recipients, such as to unduly influence their choices and their financial behaviour.

Rome, 4 August 2015