United Kingdom (UK) SME Insurance - Competitor Dynamics 2023

PUBLISHED: December 14, 2023

PAGES: 30 Pages

DELIVERY TIME: 1-2 business days

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This report identifies which insurers lead the way in the SME segment and examines how they are developing their propositions, while also highlighting how competitor positions vary between micro, small, and medium enterprises. It reveals which insurers are winning over brokers and with which companies SMEs are placing their business. Data is sourced primarily from GlobalData's UK SME Insurance Surveys.

Economic challenges (including rising interest rates, supply chain disruptions, and high inflation) have presented small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with significant challenges in recent years. Yet the number of SMEs still increased by 0.8% in 2023, accounting for 99.9% of all private sector businesses in the UK. This growth highlights the importance of these companies as a source of business growth in the commercial insurance sector. Currently leading the market in SME insurance are Aviva and AXA. However, there are plenty of chances for success via specialization and differentiation due to the diverse nature of SMEs and their varying requirements depending on size and sector. Positive trends were observed in the insurance landscape among SMEs, with increased uptake observed for eight out of 16 products. Nonetheless, SMEs may want to re-evaluate their insurance cover in light of the difficult economic climate and rising operating expenses.

Scope

Lloyds Bank narrowly leads the bancassurance space with a market share of 20.3%, over Barclays' 20.2%.
Brokers cited Aviva as the leading provider of packaged and non-packaged insurance cover for SMEs, making its broker channel an especially strong suit, given that 43.7% of SME business is conducted through the broker channel.
The top two providers' performances differ significantly depending on the product in terms of Net Promoter Score (NPS). AXA recorded a particularly poor year for NPS, possibly explaining its fall to second-largest SME provider.
Size of business is directly correlated with demand for value-added services. Legal advice was accessed by 26.1% of SMEs in 2023; this figure increased to 47.5% of medium-sized businesses but was just 23.5% for sole traders.

Reasons to Buy

Identify the leading players in the UK SME insurance market .
Learn the providers of choice for SME insurance among brokers.
Discover the strategies and Net Promoter Scores of the top SME insurers.
Identify growth opportunities in the SME space.
Find out which value-added services are in demand.

1. Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview
1.2 Key findings
1.3 Critical success factors

2. The UK SME Insurance Landscape

2.1 SME numbers rose in 2023 despite a tough economic climate
2.2 SME insurance penetration rose in eight of 16 products
2.3 Packaged insurance policies become increasingly popular as the size of the SME increases

3. The Leading Providers in SME Insurance

3.1 Aviva displaced AXA to become the top provider in 2023
3.2 Leading providers for brokers: Aviva leads broker selection
3.3 Leading bancassurance providers: Lloyds Bank narrowly takes lead over Barclays

List of Tables

Table 1: The number of SMEs in the UK private sector by business size, 2013-23
Table 2: Top three overall players' market shares by product line, 2023
Table 3: The breakdown of NPS results for the top three providers for key products, 2023
Table 4: SMEs' 2023 outlook on value-added services by business size

List of Figures

Figure 1: SME insurance uptake increased for eight out of 16 products in 2023
Figure 2: Over 70% of small and medium businesses bought insurance via a package in 2023
Figure 3: The proportion of policies bought via a package has fallen for 13 out of 16 products
Figure 4: Aviva displaced AXA to become the leading SME insurance provider in 2023
Figure 5: Visually comparing the top five providers for each product shows the dominance of AXA and Aviva
Figure 6: Brokers remain the most important distribution channel in the SME insurance market
Figure 7: A quarter of brokers place non-packaged SME insurance business with Aviva
Figure 8: 23.3% of brokers place business for packaged SME insurance with Aviva
Figure 9: Lloyds Bank has overtaken Barclays to become the leading bank for SME insurance
Figure 10: The top three providers show a mixed performance by product in terms of their NPS results
Figure 11: Legal and financial advice are the most used value-added services
Figure 12: The uptake of legal and financial advice increases in line with the size of the business
Figure 13: Demand for marketing support and business strategy advice varies by industry
Figure 14: Top five players' shares of respondents for 16 different commercial products (sole traders)
Figure 15: Top five players' shares of respondents for 16 different commercial products (micro-size businesses)
Figure 16: Top five players' shares of respondents for 16 different commercial products (small-sized businesses)
Figure 17: Top five players' shares of respondents for 16 different commercial products (medium-sized businesses)