Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Latest: UK economy stabilised in February, PMIs show
- FTSE 100 jumps 1% ahead of Budget
- Markets boosted by stimulus hopes
- But China’s services companies see slower growth
The imminent extension of the UK’s furlough scheme until September is being generally welcomed.
Jane Fielding, head of employment at law firm Gowling WLG,points out that it doesn’t specifically target the industries most hit by the lockdowns, but will give wider ‘breathing room’:
“This extension of the scheme will give employers further time to plan in the hope and expectation that the impact of the vaccine programme and subsequent lockdown easing will allow them to trade more normally.
An alternative approach would have been for the government to target the support to specific industries hardest hit by the pandemic, but clearly this wider support will give more breathing space not just to those industries but all employers and their staff continuing to face challenges.
“Employers should now be in a position where they can properly plan and prepare for the coming months, hopefully removing the need for any knee-jerk reactions. It will be interesting to see whether the Chancellor is looking to provide targeted support for those sectors that continue to be restricted from operating, enabling a more nuanced approach than the current scheme
As employers look to welcome staff back in the coming months they will also need clarity around whether the funding for Covid-19 workplace testing, currently set to end on 31 March 2021, will be extended and if this cost needs to be factored in to their projections.”
UK-listed insurer group Hiscox has said it regretted “the uncertainty and anguish” suffered by customers who faced disputes when claiming business interruption insurance to cover losses suffered in the pandemic.
My colleague Julia Kollewe explains:
Hundreds of thousands of small businesses that were forced to close during the pandemic won a “historic victory” in January when the UK’s supreme court threw out the appeals from six insurance companies and largely supported the arguments made by the Financial Conduct Authority in a test case and a policyholder action group. Firms could receive insurance payouts of more than £1bn collectively.
Hiscox said it had begun paying claims and hired more claims handlers to speed up the process, with about one in three of its 34,000 UK business interruption polices paying out.
Related: Insurer Hiscox hit by loss after paying out for Covid-related claims
