What a Hard Market & Coronavirus Could Mean For Your Business Insurance Premiums

“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”

For film fans amongst you, you will remember these being the opening lines from the Martin Scorsese masterpiece Goodfellas.

Well, ‘As far back as I can remember, we’ve been in a soft insurance market’. 

NC Insurance take a look at the state of the Insurance market as we approach half time in 2020…

Commercial Insurance in 2020

What this means is that many classes of commercial insurance have seen low rates, high limits, flexible contracts and a high availability of coverage. Buyers of commercial insurance have now benefitted from these market conditions for well over a decade.

Now mid-way through 2020, there has been a continuation of trends from 2019 in that the UK commercial insurance market is now hardening. Acturis, the leading insurance software provider, has just released their commercial insurance indices for Q1 2020 and this shows an average premium increase of 4.2% from Q1 2019 to Q1 2020. And with most business written between January – March 2020 being quoted on prior to the start of the Covid-19 crisis, it would be safe to assume that the hardening of the market (and the premium increases that come with it) is just beginning.

The Changing Market

A copy of the full commercial insurance indices report can be found here. Other headline statistics comparing Q1 2019 to the same period in 2020 being:

Commercial combined – 5.3% premium increases.

Combined liability – 12% premium increases

At the time when the insurance industry is under close scrutiny for their handling of Coronavirus and when many businesses are struggling to survive, let alone thrive, this news couldn’t really have come at a worse time.

How we will help with your insurance in 2020

Understanding what is happening in the market in which you operate is crucial and this is definitely true for the insurance industry. Like other industries, insurance brokers will currently be focused on getting through this difficult period largely unscathed. However, this means their focus might be internal looking rather than looking at the bigger picture and what this means for buyers of commercial insurance like you.

At NC Insurance, we’ve been working with our partner insurers to ensure our clients benefit from market beating rates. We’re able to do this as we work with clients & insurers on risk management, health & safety and loss prevention. This means the business we place with insurers is generally profitable. This means when we enter into negotiations with them, we can secure cover and premiums that, in many cases, aren’t available from other brokers.

So what can you take from this?

Well firstly, your premium with your current broker is likely to increase this year. Maybe even double digit increases.

The better news is that we have access to exclusive schemes that your current broker cannot access. We can use these schemes to either reduce how much your insurance increases by or better still, reduce your insurance spend from last year. So almost a double discount.

We’re currently living through an unprecedented period of time so let us help you navigate your way through this difficult period. For a free, confidential review of your current insurance programme, call us 0191 482 1219 or visit www.ncinsurance.co.uk

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