New pressures from the tax man could see protection products suffer further premium increases. A European court judgement has ruled insurers will have to pay VAT on GP reports, which are needed to gather medical evidence on some applications.
Although the ruling will not come into force immediately, the Association ofBritish Insurers (ABI) has warned the market should brace itself for premiumhikes in the future. Richard Walsh, head of health at the ABI, said: 'The UK Government will have to implement the judgement going forward, which means there will be an additional cost to meet in the future. This will clearly have an impact on premiums. Someone has to pay.' Walsh said both insurers and advisers had a role to play to help keep costs down. 'Insurers will have to be careful before sending off for GP reports if there is ...
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