Cap or scrap insurance duty, says SFA
The Small Firms Association has blasted the Government’s 2% stamp duty on commercial insurance premiums calling for it to be "capped or scrapped".
According to the business lobby group this tax nets the Government €65m annually and adds to the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of the current insurance system.
The SFA also expressed its anger that the pace of insurance reform was still not meeting small business needs, leaving many facing an uncertain future.
In a submission made, a Joint Oireachtas Committee on "Small Business over Insurance costs" heard that Ireland had among the lowest number of workplace accidents in the EU according to the European Commission.
Despite this, certain small businesses were facing a 100% rise in insurance costs over the past two years.
According to Pat Delaney, Director of the SFA : "The current system was not efficient, effective, economical or equitable."
Delaney cited the legal and legislative system as part of the problem. EU insurers were unwilling to underwrite risks they couldn’t quantify as was the case in Ireland while awarding what he termed "substantial" damages to claimants.
In particular, a "soft tissue" injury like whiplash will see an Irish claimant receive up to 10 times the amount awarded in Britain, he said.
"There are fundamental flaws in the system currently employed, and there was no room for vested interest or procrastination," Delaney concluded.
