§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from businesses about the effect on their competitiveness of increased insurance premiums. [110330]
§ Ms HewittI have received a number of representations from businesses, both directly and via business organisations, expressing concern about recent rises in insurance premiums. Some of these representations indicated that increased costs of insurance were not necessarily uniform across a particular trade, and that some businesses were therefore placed at a competitive disadvantage. A number of businesses commenting on the subject of employers liability insurance, which is compulsory, expressed concern that cowboy firms trading illegally without insurance were unfairly undercutting their prices.
The Government takes these concerns very seriously, and will shortly be publishing its initial review of the employers liability insurance system, which considers business concerns over this class of insurance in particular. We will also consider carefully the report of 337W the Office of Fair Trading's fact-finding study of the liability insurance market, also due to be published shortly.