As we enter 2011, the press are already telling us it is going to be at least as tough, if not tougher than 2010. Hopefully, this will not be the case as 2010 was, in business terms, tough for everyone.
The name of the game for 2011 is how to save money. One of the best ways you can save money is to look around for an alternative business insurance quote, when you receive your existing renewal. We have seen the good old value added tax, or VAT, increasing to it’s record level of 20%. But, there was also another tax increase, insurance premium tax has gone from 5 to 6%. For all the work involved on the IT side, it seems to us in the industry a tax that is one that is going to go up year on year.
Commercial insurance companies are not like banks, they do not pay hugely excessive salaries, staff get on with their jobs. The increase in IPT is, in the vast majority of cases going to be swallowed up by the insurers themselves. We have seen reports in the press that some of the larger retailers are going to use the increase in VAT to mask other cost increases. Inflation, whether the governement likes it or not is going to increase, especially when petrol and household fuel bills are taken into account.
You may find that your insurance renewal is one of those prices that is going to go up by more than the single percentage increase that can be accoutned for by IPT. But fear not, reinsurance rates have not increased at all over the traditional New Year renewal time. This means that there will still be competition for new insurance renewal business. If you find that there is an increase in your premium, you can look around for an alternative and this, as with all our posts, is best done through a business insurance broker.