Published : Nov-2017
No. of Pages : 47
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2
1.1. Market summary 2
1.2. Key findings 2
1.3. Critical success factors 2
2. THE SME PURCHASING JOURNEY 7
2.1. Introduction 7
2.1.1. The value of SMEs to the UK economy 7
2.2. The dominance of brokers is under threat 8
2.3. Medium-sized businesses favor brokers 9
2.3.1. Micro-sized businesses continue to shift towards purchasing direct 10
2.3.2. Small businesses are increasingly purchasing directly from insurers in 2017 13
2.3.3. Banks have lost market share among medium-sized businesses 16
2.4. SMEs rely heavily on technology when purchasing products 18
2.4.1. SMEs purchasing insurance policies favor PCs 18
2.4.2. Young companies are embracing the use of technology 20
2.4.3. Face-to-face purchasing increases in popularity in line with the age of the business 21
2.4.4. Older owners avoid modern technology as a purchasing method 22
2.5. Few SMEs struggle to understand their insurance policies 23
2.6. SME pre-purchase activity 25
2.6.1. Contacting existing provider 25
2.6.2. The potential for customer retention is high 26
3. SME RETENTION 28
3.1. The majority of SMEs remain with the same provider 28
3.2. Sole traders are sensitive to price changes when renewing 29
3.3. Micro enterprises (excluding sole traders) have a high retention rate 30
3.4. Small enterprises are keen to save on price when renewing 31
3.5. Medium enterprises have a high degree of loyalty to providers 32
3.6. Premium prices are the biggest influence when deciding to switch 34
3.6.1. Premium prices are key to customer retention 36
3.7. Services provided by insurers 37
3.7.1. A simple policy explanation is a key service required by SMEs 37
3.8. The most common added-value service used by SMEs is legal advice 40
3.8.1. Openness to receiving services is dependent on SME size 42
4. APPENDIX 45
4.1. Definitions 45
4.1.1. SME 45
4.2. Methodology 45
4.2.1. GlobalData's 2017 UK SME Insurance Survey 45
4.3. Further reading 46
List of Tables
Table 1: Methods used when purchasing travel insurance, 2017 20
Table 2: Activities undertaken prior to purchasing insurance, 2017 27
Table 3: Actions undertaken by SMEs at the time of renewal, 2017 33
Table 4: Reasons for switching insurance provider, 2017 36
Table 5: The most important additional services insurers can provide, 2017 40
Table 6: Percentage of SMEs receiving additional services, 2017 42
List of Figures
Figure 1: The use of brokers in 2017 is significantly lower than previous years 8
Figure 2: SMEs of all sizes favor the broker channel 10
Figure 3: Direct purchasing among micro enterprises has risen at the expense of brokers 11
Figure 4: The broker channel is most commonly used across policies for sole traders 12
Figure 5: The use of banks features more prominently for micro businesses excluding sole traders 13
Figure 6: Brokers and banks have lost out in the small enterprise space 14
Figure 7: Small enterprises' private medical and cyber insurance purchasing is dominated by brokers 15
Figure 8: Brokers dominate insurance purchasing among medium-sized enterprises 16
Figure 9: Brokers dominate across all policies for medium enterprises 17
Figure 10: Using a PC is the most common method for purchasing insurance 19
Figure 11: New businesses embrace technology when purchasing 21
Figure 12: The proportion purchasing face to face increases in line with business age 22
Figure 13: Younger business owners are more likely to use technology in the purchasing process 23
Figure 14: The majority of SMEs understand their insurance policies 24
Figure 15: Contacting existing providers remains the most common action 26
Figure 16: Sole traders are most likely to switch to a new provider 29
Figure 17: Price plays an instrumental role when sole traders renew insurance 30
Figure 18: Retention of micro enterprises (excluding sole traders) averages 81% 31
Figure 19: Small enterprises are highly conscious of insurance prices 32
Figure 20: The overwhelming majority of medium sized enterprises remain with their current insurer 33
Figure 21: The new provider's premium prices are the most common reason for switching 35
Figure 22: A simple explanation of the policy is the most important service for the smallest SMEs 38
Figure 23: Small and medium enterprises also rank simple policy explanation as the most important service 39
Figure 24: Legal advice is the most popular added-value service among all SMEs 41
Figure 25: Sole traders do not value additional services 43
Figure 26: Small and medium enterprises are most open to receiving new services 44
