EMPLOYER LIABILITY INSURANCE

Early day motion 1629, tabled 15 July 2002 by Adam Price (Plaid Cymru). Signed by 41 members.

That this House notes with concern the increasing difficulty in securing employer liability insurance currently affecting companies in a wide range of high-risk sectors including mining and quarrying, rail maintenance, construction and children's homes, as insurers, including Lloyd's syndicates, refuse to renew policies or charge huge increases; further notes that, due to its compulsory nature, companies unable to place insurance are being forced to close; believes that the collapse in the employer liability insurance market, and the related crisis in public liability insurance, requires an urgent government response; recommends as an emergency measure that the Government becomes an insurer of the last resort for mandatory cover using the Contingency Reserve of the Consolidated Fund; urges the Government to announce a comprehensive review of cartel-like behaviour and profit-premium ratios in the insurance sector with a view to ensuring reasonable insurance cover is available in the medium term; and calls on the industry itself to price its policies rationally and to recognise its responsibility to its customers and to the wider community.

Signatures by party: Labour 28, Labour/Co-operative 5, Plaid Cymru 3, Liberal Democrat 2, UUP 2, Scottish National Party 1.