If business owners around the country were allowed to gather together it wouldn’t be long before a chant of ‘What do we want? Insurance reform! When do we want it? Now!’ broke out.Finally however, it looks as if the problem of ever escalating insurance premiums, driven by excessive personal injury damages, could be resolved once and for all.
The committee’s guidelines, once adopted, will replace the current Book of Quantum, which lists specific injury types and indicates the level of compensation likely to be awarded. Damages account for more than half of every insurance premium, making it impossible to address the latter without first addressing the former.
Earlier this year ISME, the small and medium sized business lobby group, launched a Fair Book of Quantum, which revised the range of values in the existing Book of Quantum downwards by 80 per cent for minor injuries. Insurance costs are second only to labour costs for many in his sector. “It’s expensive and it rises every year which is scary because every business needs liability insurance to trade, it’s not a discretionary item, it’s a fundamental requirement in law.”