Ease This 'Raid on the Responsible' Now – The ABI Calls on the Government to Reduce Insurance Premium Tax

LONDON, England, Nov. 17 -- The Association of British Insurers issued the following news:

* * *

* Insurance Premium Tax now equates to an average of nearly pound sterling100 to motor and combined buildings/contents home insurance policies.

* It is likely to hit the poorest the hardest who spend proportionately more on insurance, such as motor and home.

* * *

The Association of British Insurers is urging the Chancellor to reduce the rate of Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) in next week's Autumn Statement to help millions of households and businesses manage their rising insurance costs.

For motor and home insurance alone, IPT now typically equates to pound sterling98 a year. For a couple with other insurances such as health cover, this figure could jump to pound sterling500 a year.

IPT applies to most general insurance policies including motor, home, pet, and private medical insurance. The standard rate has doubled to 12% since October 2015. It is likely to hit the poorest the hardest who spend proportionately more on insurance, such as home and motor.

Examples of IPT

For a single person with a car (1x motor), renting a flat (1x contents only) and travel insurance (1x travel) - this equates to pound sterling87.11 of IPT.

For a couple with 2 cars (2x motor), their own home (1x combined property), a pet (1x pet) and both with travel cover (2x travel) - this is pound sterling231.21 of IPT. If one of them had personal PMI (i.e. not through work) this would equate to pound sterling500.70 of IPT.

Last year, the tax made pound sterling7.45 billion for the Government. Since its introduction, IPT has increased more rapidly than the tax rate applied to alcohol and gambling and has had comparable rises to tobacco duty.

Mervyn Skeet, the ABI's Director of General Insurance Policy, said:

"Insurers are doing all they can to offer competitively priced insurance, despite facing some substantial increases in costs outside of their control. Now has never been a better time for the government to show its support to the millions of homeowners and businesses who do the right thing by protecting their families and livelihoods against sudden financial shocks, than to reduce Insurance Premium Tax."

Details of ABI publicly available and by subscription data here: https://www.abi.org.uk/data/

* * *

Original text here: https://www.abi.org.uk/news/news-articles/2023/11/we-call-on-the-government-to-reduce-insurance-premium-tax/