A new survey has found that approximately 10 per cent of UK SMEs are planning to boost their insurance cover over the next year. However, the study also found that underinsurance remains a pervasive issue among the country’s small businesses.

Insurance premium finance company Premium Credit’s latest insurance index found that around one in 10 UK SMEs say they plan to increase their level of cover over the coming year. A further 28 per cent are unsure whether they will increase, while just 7 per cent of respondents said that they were likely to cancel and not replace their policies in the next year.

Property cover was found to be the most common that SMEs are seeking to increase – cited by 40 per cent of those that are looking to spend more. 35 per cent, meanwhile, plan to increase their public and product liability, 33 per cent will seek to increase vehicle cover and approximately 30 per cent are looking to boost cyber cover.

The report also showed a continuing trend of SMEs paying their annual insurance monthly, rather than in a lump sum. In last year’s report, 15 per cent said they were moving away from lump sum payments, with a further 15 per cent this year saying they have switched to monthly insurance payments.

Despite these trends, underinsurance remains an issue, with close to one in five (18 per cent) of respondents saying that their level of underinsurance had increased in the past year and a further 18 per cent saying they expect their level of underinsurance to increase over the coming year.

23 per cent, meanwhile, revealed that the amount of cash reserves they hold has dropped over the past four years, amid the ongoing cost of living crisis. However, this represented an improvement from last year’s survey, in which 28 per cent said their cash reserves had fallen. Overall, 5 per cent of respondents this year stated that they have no cash.

Conversely, a quarter (25 per cent) of SMEs polled said that the amount of cash in the business had increased over the past four years, up from 20 per cent in last year’s survey.

Owen Thomas, Chief Sales Officer at Premium Credit, commented on the findings: “It is encouraging to see that SMEs are thinking about their insurance needs with substantial numbers planning to increase cover in the year ahead.”

“However underinsurance is a major issue with many companies acknowledging that they do not have enough insurance for their business and run the risk of not being able to claim when they need to do so.”

“Premium finance is a very cost-effective way for businesses to buy insurance and better manage their finances and cashflow by spreading payments. Our research shows more firms are switching to monthly payments to buy insurance for this very reason.”