--- title: SMEs failing to insure against loss of key staff? description: Only a quarter of SMEs insure their key staff, despite three out of ten companies admitting to losing a crucial employee due to a serious illness. image: https://blog.shorts.uk.com/hubfs/Stock%20images/Group%20of%20people%20looking%20at%20computers.jpeg --- [![Shorts_logo_White](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/hubfs/New%20Site%202018/Shorts_logo_White.svg "Shorts_logo_White")](https://www.shorts.uk.com/) [Blogs & News](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/) > [Accountancy Services](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/accountancy-services) # SMEs failing to insure against loss of key staff? Jo Grant - 22 January 2018 ###### Select topic - Please Select - [ Audit ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/audit) [ Business Taxes ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/business-taxes) [ Radius – R&D Tax Relief & Patent Box ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/radius-rd-tax-relief-patent-box) [ Corporate Finance ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/corporate-finance) [ GENUS Management Accounts ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/genus-management-accounts) [ VAT ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/vat) [ Private Client ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/private-client) [ Payroll ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/payroll) [ EOT ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/eot) [ International Taxes ](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/international-taxes) ![featured image](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/hubfs/Stock%20images/Group%20of%20people%20looking%20at%20computers.jpeg) ###### Only a quarter of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) insure their key staff. This is despite three out of ten companies in the sector admitting to having lost the services of a crucial employee for three months or more due to a serious illness.**** These are the findings from the latest research carried out by Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual life insurer. The company revealed that only a quarter (26%) of SMEs have insurance covering the key people in their business. In addition, over half (51%) of the senior decision-makers in British SMEs who have heard of this type of cover said they don’t think it is important to take out such a policy. Key person cover provides a lump sum payment if a named employee suffers a critical illness or dies. According to Royal London, this attitude could be down to a lack of awareness, even though 30% of the companies surveyed admitted to experiencing the loss of a key worker for more three months or more due to illness. Of those SMEs which were aware of such cover, nearly two-thirds (65%) believed it was important to insure their business premises, while a similar proportion (62%) covered their stock and equipment. According to Royal London, smaller businesses would face the biggest impact if they lost a key employee. But 57% of businesses with less than 50 employees, and who are aware of key person insurance, don’t think it’s important enough to do anything about it. The figure reduces a little to 53% for larger SMEs representing businesses with 50 to 249 employees. Nearly 800 company owners, proprietors, chairpersons, and other senior level executives working for SMEs were surveyed by Royal London. “With a record 5.7million SMEs in the UK, a lot of businesses are leaving their futures exposed to loss of a key employee through serious injury, illness or death,” commented Ian Smart, product architect at Royal London. If you think your business could be at risk if a key worker goes missing, [please get in touch.](https://www.shorts.uk.com/contact-us/) **Other useful links:** - [Business Protection - planning for the unexpected](https://www.shortsfs.com/news/business-protection-planning-unexpected/) - [Keeping your staff motivated? Why not apply McDonald's system on employee rewards?](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/keeping-your-staff-motivated-why-not-apply-mcdonalds-system-on-employee-rewards) ![author](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/hubfs/1678438830033-1.jpg) #### Jo Grant Jo is the Senior Marketing Manager at Shorts Chartered Accountants. [View my articles](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/author/jo-grant) Tags: [Accountancy Services](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/accountancy-services), [Business Taxes](https://blog.shorts.uk.com/topic/business-taxes) Share this on - - - [Questions? 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