The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has called on the Government to do more to ensure that small businesses survive a major incident such as a fire, flood, act of terrorism, or a pandemic such as swine flu, particularly during the current economic downturn.
Independent research commissioned by BIBA found that 45 per cent of businesses don’t have any, or at very best, rough plans to deal with the effects of flood or storm damage . This is despite flood claims of £3 billion from 2007 and that 80 per cent of businesses affected by a major incident close down within 18 months.
The study also revealed that the number of small businesses who claim it would take more than six months for their business to recover has nearly trebled. BIBA are of the opinion that small businesses must have adequate plans in place to cover business resilience and is concerned businesses are putting themselves at risk.