The Cover Note
Budget 2027: higher wages make an insurance review worth doing
A 79-cent hourly increase looks small until you put it through a weekly roster. For a business with several staff on the minimum wage, it becomes a real addition to the annual wage bill.
Following Budget 2027, the Government has accepted an increase in Ireland's adult national minimum wage from €14.15 to €14.94 an hour. The Low Pay Commission recommended the new rate from 1 January 2027. It is a change to plan for, not a rate already in force today.
For employees, that is more pay. For a small-business owner, it means updating the payroll budget and checking other costs before the new year. Insurance belongs in that review, but the question should be what you are getting for the premium, not how much cover you can remove.
What does 79 cent mean for a small business?
Take an employee aged 20 or over working 39 paid hours a week, with every hour moving from €14.15 to €14.94. The increase in basic gross pay is €30.81 a week, or €1,602.12 over 52 weeks.
One employee at 39 hours: €1,602.12 extra basic gross pay a year.
Five employees at 39 hours each: €8,010.60 extra a year.
One employee at 20 hours: €821.60 extra a year.
These are illustrations, not a complete employer-cost calculation. They assume unchanged hours and 52 paid weeks. They exclude employer PRSI, pension costs, overtime and any adjustments to employees already earning above the minimum rate.
There is also a Budget measure on the other side of the calculation. The Minister for Finance announced an increase in the weekly employer PRSI threshold from €552 to €600 for 2027. That can affect the final payroll cost for eligible employees. Do not treat the gross wage increase above as the net increase in your total employment costs; have your payroll provider work through both changes.
Start the insurance review with the figures on file
A wage increase is a practical reason to check the wage roll declared to your insurer. If the cover uses estimated annual wages, ask your broker how the revised payroll should be recorded and whether an adjustment is needed during the policy year or at renewal.
Also check the description of the business. Are you doing the same work as when the policy was arranged? Have you added delivery, contract work, new equipment or another premises? A renewal based on old information is not a useful comparison, even if the premium looks attractive.
Give competing insurers the same accurate information. Otherwise, a cheaper quote may simply be a quote for a different risk.
Compare the cover, not just the annual premium
Ask your broker to explain the differences between quotations in writing. In particular:
The activities, premises and people covered.
The limits and sums insured.
The excess you would pay on a claim.
Exclusions, conditions and any changes from your existing policy.
The full payable cost, including fees and any premium-finance charges.
A higher excess may reduce a premium, but it leaves you paying more when a claim happens. Before choosing it, check whether the business could comfortably fund that amount.
If you suspect overlapping cover, ask whether it is genuinely duplicated. Two policies mentioning the same risk do not necessarily provide the same protection. Get the explanation before cancelling either one.
Do not lower property values to reach a target price
Reducing the declared value of a building or its contents is not the same as removing an unnecessary expense.
Where a policy contains an average clause, underinsurance can reduce the payment for a partial loss as well as leave a shortfall after a major one. The wording matters. Ask how your own policy treats underinsurance and whether the declared values need a professional review.
Business interruption cover deserves a separate discussion too. Ask what events trigger it, what financial figures it uses and how long it would pay while the business recovers. Do not assume every interruption is insured, or choose a shorter recovery period solely to trim the premium.
What to send your broker before renewal
Set aside the current schedule and renewal notice, then gather your updated wage roll, turnover, staff numbers, activities, premises and property values. Note any changes during the year and any contracts that set insurance requirements.
Ask for a comparison on the same basis and an explanation of anything that has changed. If the broker recommends keeping a more expensive option, ask what protection the extra cost buys.
Budget 2027 is a useful prompt to do that work before renewal becomes urgent. An insurance review may find a better price. It may instead show that the current cover is appropriate, or that a gap needs fixing. No saving is guaranteed. The point is to make the cost and the protection easier to understand before you commit.
Sources
Workplace Relations Commission - current national minimum wage rates.
https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/14a24e70/Low_Pay_Commission_Annual_Report_2026.pdf