Private car insurance premiums have increased by nearly 20% during 2009. Of course, there are still bargains to be had but overall, the average premium per policyholder is increasing at nearly 40 times inflation.
What lies in store for business and commercial insurance premiums during 2010? Insurers traditionally by many different forms of re-insurance to protect themselves in the event of catastrophic and/or significantly high (in value) losses from a single event.
For every pound that you spend on, say, shop insurance, approximately 15 to 20 pence is paid to re-insurers. So, if the re-insurers ramp up their prices then this is passed down the line. Re-insurance renewals are the same as most policies and run for a year, they tend to be renewed in early January, or at the end of Q1.
We have not seen reports of significant increases in re-insurance premiums so far. This does not mean though that there will not be increases. The less efficient insurers, and there are too many, simply are not capable of controlling their costs effectively. They run inefficiently and the costs, whatever they say, are passed on to you and I.
So, the way to deal with this is to look for an underwriter, or capacity provider, that is lean and mean, they want your business and their expenses are pared to the bone. This way, they can offer you the best deal.