Each year, hundreds of thousands of small businesses in the UK are left without the insurance they need, while many others are underinsured and therefore not fully protected when they face a claim.
Public First published a new research paper that shines a light on this problem for UK SMEs. Small Business, Big Risk presents the findings of a six-month review, commissioned by the ABI, into the prevalence and consequences of uninsurance and underinsurance among small and medium-sized enterprises.
The analysis is based on a nationally representative survey of 1,002 UK SMEs, conducted online by Public First between 12th and 21st of August 2025. All participants were business owners or senior executives, drawn from research panels where people opt in to take part in studies in exchange for incentives. The sample was weighted by business size and region to reflect the UK SME workforce – with representation based on the number of people employed within SMEs, rather than the number of firms.