Dr Matthew Connell, director of policy and public affairs at the Chartered Insurance Institute, said “This budget was inevitably going to lead to higher taxes, and the freezing of personal allowances in both income and inheritance tax will affect most households. However, with the right kind of financial planning, families can reduce their tax bill. The changes in the budget mean that getting professional financial advice is more important than ever.

“The Chancellor rightly voiced concerns over the increase of 630,000 economically inactive adults since the start of the pandemic, costing the taxpayer billions of pounds. Insurers play a vital role in getting people back to work – Swiss Re research has shown that for every £1 spent by insurers on rehab, £9 is saved by avoiding prolonged economic inactivity. We call on the government to work with insurers to increase take up of insurance such as income protection throughout the UK economy, to realise still greater savings.

“We welcome the government’s decision not try to increase revenue through an increase in insurance premium tax, which is increasingly being viewed as a stealth tax on the most vulnerable, because the people who pose the greatest risks, often through no fault of their own, end up beating the brunt of any rise in tax.

“Our greatest concern remains the delay to the Dilnot reforms to 2025. This means that six generations of elderly people will have spent the average stay of 30 months in a care home from beginning to end since the Dilnot Commission was set up in 2010 (average stay in care home https://www.independentage.org/news-media/press-releases/cost-of-average-length-of-stay-a-residential-care-home-equivalent-to-26) – the public needs certainty about care costs before they can plan for care financially.”

Content provided by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).