Chaucer may relocate offshore due to UK tax regime

11/03/2010

Lloyd’s of London insurer Chaucer is the latest firm to announce it is considering relocating its company registration offshore in response to rising taxes.

Bob Stuchberry, the insurer’s chief executive, said it would be looking into relocating offshore to a judiciary with a lower tax regime in the third quarter of 2010. He told Reuters news agency, “If most of our peer group has already re-domiciled to a more favourable tax environment, that is a disadvantage to us. It's something as a board we have to give consideration to.”

He said that such a move would help it to compete with rivals like Brit Insurance and Beazley. In the past year, Brit Insurance relocated its headquarters to the Netherlands, while Beazley has chosen Ireland as its new home. Other formerly British rivals such as Hiscox and Caitlin have relocated to Bermuda to avoid the UK’s harsh tax environment.

Stuchberry added that an actual move would be unlikely to occur before 2011 or 2012 as it would be “too disruptive” any sooner.

The announcement was made along with a new set of positive results for the London insurers. It revealed a pre-tax profit of £42 million for 2009, up from a loss of £26.2 million the year before.