Hundreds of businesses at risk
An insurance firm has revealed that over half a million people are uninsured in their place of work and only a third of firms understand the importance of public liability cover.
To make matters worse, 15% of all companies admitted to considering cutting their insurance to save money due to the financial downturn.
Alarmingly, 5% have already cut back on the level of their cover.
The study found that only 37% of businesses understood completely what premises insurance is for while this figure reduced to 26% for equipment and contents and 30% for public liability.
The insurance group warned that this practice is a false economy as 13% of businesses have less than £1,000 disposable cash and 48% have less than £10,000. This means that without proper insurance, companies would be left extremely vulnerable in the event of a compensation claim.
Doug Barnett, head of customer risk management at the group said: “These statistics should be a wake up call to all businesses and the insurance industry alike. With the economy as precariously positioned as it is at the moment, the last thing needed is more businesses needlessly going to the wall because they are not properly insured."
He added: “Insurance is an absolutely vital component of any successful business.”
Updated on 08/10/2009