Small businesses have seen their commercial vehicle insurance premiums reduce by a record 10% in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same time last year. The reduction is the biggest drop for commercial vehicles in the last five years and leads to a six per cent reduction in the combined cost of general insurance for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) comprising their commercial package and commercial vehicle policies.
The figures come from the British Insurance Brokers’ Association’s (BIBA) and Acturis Insurance Price Index that tracks £5billion of actual premiums paid annually via insurance brokers since 2010. The reductions are primarily being driven by insurance brokers accessing competitive markets for commercial vehicle policies and reforms to motor insurance that have reduced the cost of third party claims.
Graeme Trudgill, BIBA’s Executive Director, said: “This is positive news for the white van man and small businesses generally. Brokers are working really hard for customers which has led to increased competition. Brokers have also capitalised on the reforms to motor insurance that have occurred during recent years such as the 40% reduction to uninsured driving and the legal changes to reduce the impact of personal injury referral fees.
“Small businesses can find it difficult and time consuming to find the right cover, but brokers know the market well and are able to work on behalf of customers to get the right cover at the best price.”
Premiums for larger businesses have remained stable and have only seen a minimal 0.6% increase during Q1 2015 compared to the same period last year. During the last five years premiums for this class of business have remained remarkably stable.
Steve White, BIBA’s Chief Executive, commented: “We welcome the stability which we think is positive news for larger businesses.”
Premiums for individual consumers for the first quarter 2015 have reduced marginally when compared to the same quarter in 2014 with the consumer basket of the index showing a small reduction of 0.9%. This is the smallest reduction in the last ten quarters and suggests that premiums are potentially stabilising after significant reductions in 2013 of 2.1% and 2014 of 4.3% compared to the previous year.
Theo Duchen, Co-CEO of the Acturis Group comments: “The indices that Acturis and BIBA have developed enable us to gain a unique insight into the movements in average premium in the key buying segments in the UK and highlight the high degree of competitiveness in the industry during the last few years.”