084: Tackling the Cost of Doing Business Crisis with David Perry

People in Insurance: Changing the Conversation

Are you concerned about the rising cost of doing business?

Are you unsure about how you can advise and support the small businesses most deeply affected by this crisis?

In this episode, we’re very pleased to be speaking with David Perry, Managing Director of the FSB Insurance Service, about the rising cost of doing business and the role of insurance in confronting and mitigating this crisis. In conversation with Boston Tullis’ Sarah Myerscough, he focuses specifically on how smaller firms struggling with paying their insurance premiums are navigating this crisis alongside the various other political and economic calamities currently unfurling. Furthermore, he explains the steps which both brokers and insurers can take to ease the pressure on small businesses during this period, with reference to a recent report conducted by the FSB which assesses the impact of the hard insurance market on SMEs.

Quote of the Episode

“Our biggest concern is that smaller firms quite often need as much advice as bigger firms, because a lot of them do all sorts of very different things. They just don't do it quite as much as a very large business does. But they still have the same complexities, the same issues to face, and they need to have people to talk to.”

Throughout the episode, David repeatedly emphasises that the size of a business should not impact upon the attention it is paid by insurers and brokers. There is not, and cannot be, a generic, one-size-fits-all approach to tackling problems for small businesses, all of which have their own unique intricacies and issues which should be reflected in their insurance cover. As such, SMEs should be treated as a priority, rather than a sidenote, during the cost of doing business crisis, and must be given sufficient advice and support to ensure that they are paying for appropriate cover.

Key Takeaways

The UK market is predominantly made up of VSMEs, so it’s really important to understand how the rise in premiums and other issues relating to insurance affects this target market. In the recent survey conducted by the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses), 30% of respondents noted that they couldn’t understand their policy. Additionally, one in six had been forced to switch their cover due to availability or price, but they’d had to take a cover reduction.

SMEs and VSMEs are cutting costs in order to pay for their insurance, highlighting a recognition on their behalf of its value and importance. This should be reflected in how brokers and insurers support small businesses, particularly during this period of immense economic turbulence. A key means of doing so would be to streamline the rhetoric of policies and make them more comprehensive to those not literate in more complex insurance jargon.

That being said, insurers must not conflate streamlining with oversimplification. In the episode, David notes that insurers are always trying to keep their question sets down when accommodating e-trade. As such, they’re not always able to get the information needed to equip a business with the right cover. The simplification of e-trade systems can mean that small businesses aren’t always asked the right questions, leading them to be directed to a mid-market or branch team who are generally busier with larger, more complicated projects. Yet, if such clients are advised to purchase a potentially unsuitable policy, it won’t be obvious to them. This possibility of misunderstanding can also contribute to the current PR crisis facing the insurance industry, addressed in a recent episode of the podcast featuring Brett Sainty.

Time is of the essence for SMEs and VSMs, so the simpler the process of insuring them, the better, provided that they are receiving the right advice. Furthermore, small businesses are always evolving. Detailed question sets are needed to tease out the finer details of each business to ensure that the right insurance policy is purchased.

Even as it becomes swamped by other political and economic issues and changes, the conversation around the cost of doing business crisis needs to be kept alive. If you are a small business needing advice and support during this period, the FSB offers a wealth of helpful blogs and articles, linked below.

Best Moments/Key Quotes

“We've done a bit of work on the results [of the FSB report]. And they did show, as we all expected, that the hard market was having its impact on businesses and small businesses. In particular, three out of five of the respondents said that their premium had risen. And over half of those people said it had risen by more than 10%.”

“Even before the COVID crisis, the hot market was sort of kicked off by a bit of a crisis in the PI market. We've been shouting about that since January 2020. And it still seems to be a problem.”

“These are busy, busy people – they've not got a department of people placing their insurance. The person that's buying the insurance is often the same person that's making the stuff or delivering the stuff or building the stuff, and haven’t got time, so the simpler we can make it, the better. And we're all in favour of that, provided that the person that we're talking to is giving the right advice.”

‘In our survey 24% of SMEs were cutting other costs in order to pay for insurance, because they recognise the value of it and how important it is.’

Resources

FSB: https://www.fsb.org.uk/

The FSB Insurance Service: https://fsb-insurance-service.com/

FSB Blogs: https://fsb-insurance-service.com/fsb-insurance-service-blog/

The FSB Survey into the cost of doing business crisis - Report: https://www.fsb.org.uk/resource-report/paying-a-premium.html

About the Guest

David Perry is the Managing Director of the FSB Insurance Service, with 30 years’ business experience and previously holding senior positions in Torlot Foy, Minority Venture Partners, Towergate Insurance, and more.

About the Host

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation