Insurers criticised for EL crisis

Patricia Hewitt, the Trade & Industry Secretary has called on insurers to deal with the employers’ liability crisis and ‘to get round a table with business to find solutions, or at least what to do to mitigate the problem’. Speaking at the annual conference of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), she pointed to rises up to 1,500% in some cases. Also speaking at the conference, Digby Jones, director general of the CBI, criticised the insurance industry for putting large EL premium increases onto businesses with exemplary health and safety records. However, the ABI said it was looking for ways to reward those companies with good health and safety records.