New research by DVL Smith’s Evolution into the UK SME commercial insurance market found that 42% of SMEs are aware that they don’t have enough insurance cover and over 70% felt that at least one additional insurance policy would be beneficial in protecting their business from risk. Perhaps more worryingly, 18% of SMEs do not believe they have employers' liability cover, despite it being a legal requirement.

When asked what was preventing the purchase of additional products, many citied confusion over the types of insurance cover required, the products offered, price and lack of time.

Jen Del Carlo, director, DVL Smith said; “It’s well documented that SMEs are time poor and the current economic climate only puts more demands on business owners. From an insurer’s perspective SMEs are clearly a diverse audience with a varied set of needs. SME commercial insurance providers seem to be missing an opportunity to really understand their target customers, and thus we see a gap in terms of current and potential coverage.”

The study also highlighted a lack of awareness of providers (25% of SMEs were unable to name a single insurance provider) and a high level of inertia across the market (85% of renewals are with an existing provider and of those only one third are shopping around for other quotes).
“Inertia can often lead to provider complacency and a lack of consumer choice, but it also presents a fantastic opportunity for an existing provider or new entrant to demystify the market and position itself as the SME customer champion. For those that get it right it is likely to be highly profitable”, comments Siobhan Wallace, a consultant at Evolution.

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