So, the general election is now upon us and, as of writing, the electorate are on their way to the polling booths to decide who will run our country. Whoever should win be it David Cameron, Nick Clegg or the current Prime Minster Gordon Brown,  none of them are under any illusions that he will inherit the most difficult economical challenge seen in modern history.

Whilst the United Kingdom has its own debt issues to contend with, the Greeks are facing a financial abyss – the Greek government knows this as does the rest of the European Union but so do their people. They know that their government must press ahead with compulsory (and significant) budget cuts and as a result their people have protested in huge numbers which, regrettably, has escalated in to violence.

The TV media have sadly also reported the deaths of three innocent bank workers.  The state authorities are under no illusion that this may continue. Will this animosity spread to the UK when our government has to make similar demands on their people? Those old enough to remember the early eighties know only too well that if the touch paper is lit, people could take to the streets.

The insurance industry like most others is not immune to these hard times ahead both from an economic point of view and from a physical risk point of view. Business insurance rates will surely have to increase to cope with a potential influx of both legitimate claims and fraudulent claims.

Premiums for business insurance purchasers of shops, offices, restaurants, public houses, hotels and the like have remained spectacularly low despite the recession and are set to continue to do so. But for how long is anyone’s guess. If premiums start to rise dramatically as other classes of insurance have already seen, businesses will have no choice but to pass on their increased costs to customers. And so the cycle continues.

Business insurance proprietors may elect to choose not to have insurance or reduce their cover to avoid this. This is extremely dangerous but yet tempting for some. One catastrophe alone could wipe out and destroy years of hard work. Want some advice? Don’t be tempted.