UK brokers lobby for cyber tax exemption and lower IPT rate
UK brokers have called on the government to exempt cyber insurance products from paying tax, which they say will boost the take-up of the product among SMEs.
Ahead of new UK budget announcement due at the end of next month, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) also said insurance premium tax should be cut across all lines from the headline rate of 12% to 10%.
It goes on to argue that insurance for multi-occupancy residential buildings in need of cladding remediation work in the wake of the Grenfell fire, should be exempt from the tax.
BIBA further called for the government to commit to long-term investment in flood defences across the UK, while lobbying for a services trade agreement with the European Union. The broker association said this would ease a shortage in the supply of affordable home and motor insurance in Northern Ireland.
Graeme Trudgill, chief executive of BIBA, said the association wants to maintain a strong broking sector that can continue to help businesses manage risk effectively.
“The government has the opportunity to make some specific interventions to help ease the financial burden on customers and help with the issues that we are seeing with capacity in the Northern Ireland market. It could also provide incentives to address challenges in areas such as the increasing risk of cyberattacks,” Trudgill said.
