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Insurance premiums set to wipe out vehicle operators
Page 4
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• by Sally Nash Waste hauliers and tanker firms are going to the wall as a result of rocketing employers' liability (EL) insurance premiums.
That was the stark warning last week from the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIRA) which highlighted haulage as one of eight sectors where companies are finding it increasingly expensive to obtain EL insurance and are going out of business as a result.
In the past hauliers have seen commercial vehicle insurance premiums soar as a result of escalating thefts, attacks and accidents. But EL insurance—a legal requirement since 1972— has come to the fore following the increased pressure on insurers to recoup their losses. This is due in part to the September 11 terrorist attacks and the decline in the stock market BIBA chief executive Mike Williams told CM suspect these difficulties are more likely to affect the hazardous sector—waste and chemicals for example—and anything that is perceived as high-risk. Insurers are taking a long, hard look at individual businesses."
Chris North, from RHA Insurance Services, agrees that obtaining EL and public liability insurance for hauliers is becoming a worrying problem.
Waste operators, including skip-hire firms, have been hit particularly hard.
"II the last few days alone we have had inquiries from some very distraught hauliers saying: 'Please help us because our premiums are going through the roof I'," he says.
"For many hauliers this type of insurance was not an issue in the past but suddenly this has become a problem," adds North.
He says that increases of 40-50% are not uncommon while some hauliers are asked to pay a lot more if they have experienced costly claims against them.
Tanker firm JW Suckling Transport confirmed that its EL and public liability insurance has climbed nearly 40% over the last year.
The Federation of Small Businesses has also warned that a "substantial" number small firms could collapse tl autumn as a result of soari insurance premiums. Da Perry, from the FSB's insuran broker Warren Hill, says: I are receiving at least one cal day from businesses that he been unable to get employe liability cover elsewhere."