Ivass sees 'progress' but says car insurance still too high

(ANSA) - Rome, June 23 - Italy has made "considerable progress" in reducing the cost of vehicle insurance although premiums remain well above the EU average, the head of Italy's insurance supervisory body said Tuesday.
    High costs are due especially to the "huge presence of fraud", Ivass President Salvatore Rossi added.
    However, the country is "not far from making a genuine breakthrough", he said. In 2014 the average cost of car insurance "fell by nearly 8%, continuing a downwards trend that began the year before," Rossi added.
    The drop in prices was driven by a fall in the number of reported road accidents and in the cost of damages, he explained.
    In 2014 the average reimbursement fell by 1.5% over the previous year, Rossi said.