Insurance Premiums set to rise

As is reported in the Times this morning, it looks likely that insurance premium tax (IPT) is a prime canditate for an increase on 22 June.  Nothing is confirmed (or denied) as yet.

The thinking behind this is that the rate is (relatively speaking) low at 5% compared to 17.5% VAT, which is what is already charged on certain types of insurance, such as travel insurance.  We also charge less IPT than some other EU countries.

The other thing which can’t have escaped notice is that premiums are already rapidly increasing and once people have forgotten about the budget they’ll probably blame their insurers.

The only people who are likely to benefit from this are meerkats.