Tag Archives: Decrease

Our Open Letter to the Treasury, don’t increase IPT!

With rumors of the government increasing Insurance Premium Tax again, we sent an open letter to our MP, Mims Davies. Continually increasing the tax on socially positive motor & home insurance acts as a disincentive to buy, hits the poorest hardest & shouldn’t be a cash cow for the Treasury:

Mims Davies
The House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

October 2018

Dear Mims Davies MP

Airsports Insurance Bureau is a firm that provides insurance in your constituency. Our firm helps to arrange insurance for business and consumers throughout the area and in our capacity as agent of the customer; we act in the best interests of insurance buyers, finding them the best policy for their needs.

We are greatly concerned by the sudden and sharp increases in Insurance Premium Tax that have happened since November 2015 – doubling the rate from 6% to 12%. Further, the Chancellor has indicated that further increases are not only possible – but are likely.

Insurance Premium Tax was introduced in 1993. Before this, the purchase of insurance attracted no tax. Insurance allows people to take responsibility for themselves and their assets, and actually reduces the burden on the state should things go wrong.

Our trade body, The British Insurance Brokers’ Association, has made a comprehensive representation to HM Treasury, calling for a freeze in the rate of Insurance Premium Tax: https://bit.ly/2xWD7p3

As a regressive tax, Insurance Premium Tax penalises those who pay more for their insurance. This includes groups such as young drivers and communities in flood risk areas. For example, the tax contribution for a £1,500 young driver’s policy has increased from £90 to £180 in the last 24 months alone. With young drivers more likely to drive without insurance, any further increases are likely to have an impact on the number of uninsured drivers on the UK’s roads.

HMRC’s policy objective IPT01300 states “that IPT should make the required contribution to UK Government revenue while minimising the effect on the take up of insurance”. It is clear such significant increases are indeed likely to be to the detriment of uptake.

In your capacity as our local MP, I would be very grateful if you could take up this issue with the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mel Stride ahead of the Budget this month, calling for a freeze in any further increases for the term of this Parliament.

Yours sincerely,

Airsports Insurance Bureau

Car Insurance Premiums Reduce In Q2 2018

Fiesta Motorists will be pleased to read that premiums for fully comprehensive car insurance have, on average, fallen in the second quarter of 2018 when compared to the same period last year.

According to the Confused.com Car Insurance Price Index that is produced on a quarterly basis the average amount paid for the above level of cover in Q2 of 2018 was £752 per annum. Twelve months ago, the premium was £847 per annum so there has been a drop of £95 with this equating to a fall of 11.2%. That is a significant reduction.

It is interesting to read in the above report that those motorists who merely renewed their car insurance with the same insurance company ended up paying, on average, an extra £49 per annum for their cover when looking at data covering the second quarter of this year. This just goes to show how important it is that motorists should shop around when he or she receives their renewal quotation from their existing insurer to try to get a better price elsewhere for the same level of cover.

As you are probably aware, it tends to be the young, inexperienced driver who pays more for their car insurance than others and that is not surprising. However, it is interesting that the above report reveals 17 year olds have, on average benefitted from quite a drop in the cost of insuring their cars when comparing Q2 of 2018 with Q2 of 2017. They have seen premiums fall by an average of £403 per annum to an average of £1,889 per annum. This is even lower than that being paid by 18 and 19 year olds with the former paying an average of £2,052 per annum and the later an average of £1,893 per annum. A reason for the drop could be due to an increase seen in the number of insurance companies offering telematics (black box) car insurance.

Those premiums are significantly higher than the average paid by older motorists for comprehensive cover: –

34 year old – £664 per annum

51 year old – £647 per annum

68 year old – £496 per annum

On a regional basis, Northern Ireland has seen the biggest fall in premiums with premiums dropping on average from £1,059 per annum to £894 per annum between both quarters. That is a fall of £165 per annum equating to 16%.

On a more local basis, motorists living in Inner London saw their premiums reduce by an average of £179 per annum. That may be good news for many but they are still paying more than an average of £1,000 per annum for their cover with this being the only place in the UK that this is happening.

We are sure motorists would agree that it would be lovely to see the cost of insuring their cars continue to fall.

If your cover is coming up for renewal then why not contact us here at AIB Insurance on 02380 268 351 and we will be pleased to discuss your requirements and obtain a free, competitive quotation from our extensive panel of insurers without any obligation.