Defaqto: 24% of all SME cover policies available online

New research has revealed that almost one-quarter of all small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) annual insurance polices are now available online.

Defaqto's latest report into commercial SME insurance, called The Future is Online, published today (April 29th), shows that the availability of SME-based products such as contents and buildings insurance across all sectors has increased over the last year.

The study includes details on how the economic recovery is affecting SMEs and why attitudes are changing amongst the SME sector about investing in insurance cover online.

In the last 12 months, there has been a seven per cent rise in the number of office products for sale on the internet, with 24 per cent in total now available through this medium. Meanwhile, retailers' products have gone up by four per cent and tradesmen's goods rose by six per cent.

Mike Powell, analyst and author of the report, said "Many SMEs are prepared to research their business insurance needs online. Our own research shows that the industry has slowly started to take note of this and is developing products for the web."


By Joe Letts