Budget 2015: Tax up on insurance for cars, homes and holidays
Elsewhere, a cap was put on charges levied by claims management companies
People will be soon paying more to insure their cars, homes and holidays after the Chancellor raised insurance premium tax to 9.5 per cent.
The levy on general insurance products is currently 6 per cent and experts claimed the rise will be passed on to consumers. The Association of British Insurers estimates that the change – scheduled for November – will add an extra £12.25 to car cover and £9.48 for house insurance.
British Insurance Brokers’ Association CEO Steve White said: “Those hit will include the 20.1 million households with contents insurance; 19.6 million with motor insurance and 17 million with buildings insurance.”
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Elsewhere, a cap was put on charges imposed by claims management companies – which is likely to please insurers who have complained of rising claims inflation.
Amanda Blanc, chief executive of AXA’s UK commercial business, said: “A clampdown was necessary to address a growing compensation culture epidemic. We recently found that more than a quarter of people received a nuisance communication from a claims management company in [a period of] 24 hours. This bombardment can often lead not only to the annoyance but also the anxiety of victims – not to mention higher premiums.
“More work needs to be done to address the societal issue of claims farming – and, for instance, we would support a ban on automated voicemail calls – but hopefully today’s cap will reduce the volume of unsolicited messages.”
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