Telematics insurance provider disappointed as new Chancellor doesn’t respond to calls for telematics insurance to be exempt from IPT
insurethebox, pioneer of UK telematics insurance, is lending its voice to the chorus of concern around Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) on motor insurance. In particular, the company is concerned that new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, did not take action in today’s Budget to make a real difference to road safety by reducing or exempting IPT on telematics policies.
BIBA (The British Insurance Brokers Association) was outspoken in its 2020 Road Safety Manifesto[i], published weeks before the Budget, issuing a call to action for the Government to increase on-street safety by giving greater incentives to use telematics policies.
One way to encourage young, inexperienced drivers to move to telematics is to provide them with IPT relief. However, research from BIBA shows that ever since IPT costs doubled between 2014 and 2017, young drivers have been hit the hardest. A typical young driver paying for a £1250 policy will have seen their IPT tax rocket from £75 to £150 between 2015 and 2017, which BIBA has described as ‘clearly unsustainable’.
With the House of Commons Transport Committee[ii] advising that drivers between the ages of 17 and 24 account for just 7% of the licence holders in the UK but are involved in 20% of fatal and serious collisions, insurethebox believes the need to make it easier for young drivers to benefit from telematics technology is unquestionable.
Warren Hetz, Commercial Director at Aioi Nissay Dowa UK, the parent company of insurethebox, said: “The data acquired through telematics insurance not only protects lives, but helps reduce the pressure on emergency services and saves the Government money every year. It’s disappointing, therefore, that this wasn’t recognized in today’s Budget.
“It is crucial that we motivate young and inexperienced drivers to choose telematics-based insurance for those safety advantages. They will not however, be persuaded to do so en masse unless they can see a clear financial benefit.”
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
insurethebox
Insure The Box Limited launched in June 2010 with its first product, insurethebox, and now holds over 5 billion miles of driving data and associated claims. As well as insurethebox and drive like a girl (another Insure The Box brand) it also administers other telematics offerings. Insurethebox is owned by Aioi Nissay Dowa Europe Limited, part of the major Japanese insurance group MS&AD Holdings, Inc. The group is taking a leading role in the development of technologies that will change the face of motor insurance and the way we view the car.
[i] https://bibamanifesto.co.uk/tax/ipt/
[ii]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/834585/reported-road-casualties-annual-report-2018.pdf