Vitality: 1 in 3 businesses still without protection despite admitting single point of failure in key employee
30 March 2021 – A third (34%) of business owners have admitted their organisations would fail if they or a key member of staff passed away or had a severe terminal illness yet still aren’t insuring against the impact of the loss or ill health of key employees, according to new data from Vitality.
Covid-19 has elevated health and in the minds of businesses with three quarters (73%) of owners saying they are now more aware of their own health and four in five (84%) concerned about the health and wellbeing of their employees. But while the last year has been a reminder that serious illnesses can create sudden negative impacts for businesses, 1 in 3 (34%) are still leaving themselves unprotected. Those without business protection cited cost, knowing who to speak to and even a sense that they wouldn’t get ill, to explain why they don’t have it in place.
Businesses have been significantly impacted over the last year. Three in five (62%) business owners have had to make changes to their business, one in six (17%) have moved more of their operations online and 14% having had to adapt their business offering.
Karl Hewstone, Director, VitalityLife said: “One year on from when Covid-19 first emerged, businesses are still having to cope with a huge range of challenges so longer-term planning considerations such as business protection insurance perhaps haven’t been a priority. However, our research shows how many organisations recognise they have a single point of failure that would cause their business to close.
“As we emerge from lockdown and businesses look to return to some sort of normality, the coming months are an optimal time to be reflecting on the past year and to start having conversations about putting plans in place for the future.”
Advisers can find out more about Vitality’s Business Protection offering, how to help their clients protect their businesses, and sign up to Vitality’s Business Protection Webinar series on the Vitality website: https://adviser.vitality.co.uk/life-insurance/business/.
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Notes to editors
All Vitality data from research carried out with 501 business owners between 5th-9th February 2021 by Opinium on behalf of Vitality.
For further information, please contact:
Press@vitality.co.uk