Insurance companies set to increase premiums across the board
As we have covered on a number of occasions, many insurance companies have "sneaked in" premium increases over the last few weeks when their sector has been overshadowed by that of the banking and mortgage industry. This constant increase in premiums has gone largely unnoticed but over the next six months, as UK consumers look to renew their policies, they will become all too evident.
The insurance companies have been as hard hit as anybody by the fall in the property market and the stock market as they depend upon these investment arenas to supplement their premium income. While we have heard no alarm bells from the leaders in the industry, there is no doubt that they will have suffered a decline in their asset base and will be looking to replenish this via increased premiums.
Quite how the UK consumer will take this apparent ongoing increase in premiums remains to be seen as money becomes tighter and tighter for many of the UK population. There has been no indication of any assistance in this area as yet by the government although this cannot be ruled out in the medium term with the insurance reporting season due to start fairly soon.
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