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Poland's largest insurer, PZU, has been fined zł.56.6 million by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) for entering into an agreement with Maximus Broker that, according to the regulator, restricted competition. The latter firm, meanwhile, has been fined zł.61,800.

The agreement in question regards group-accident insurance policies for school children and employees in the education sector within the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship.

According to UOKiK, PZU and Maximus Broker created a cartel that violated competition rules. “PZU agreed to sell group policies to educational institutions only through Maximus Broker, while the latter recommended PZU's offers to its clients as the best in the market, regardless of whether it was true,” UOKiK wrote in its ruling.

“The broker is obliged by law to act in the best interest of its client and find them the best insurance protection. Maximus did not fulfill its duties,” Piotr Dorawa, legal adviser at UOKiK's Bydgoszcz division, told Rzeczpospolita.

PZU, which was indicated as the leader in the case, has denied any wrongdoing.

Poland A.M.