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Small business borrowers are confident that they will be able to make it through the ongoing recession – but only those who keep up with their business insurance will succeed.

New research has revealed that the majority of the UK's small businesses are bullish about their prospects in ‘the worst recession in living memory' with more than half claiming that they are confident their business will survive the downturn, according to Hiscox.

But the study found that almost half have taken no additional measures to ride out the downturn. Even those that have been forced to take action have avoided more drastic measures of salary cuts, a cull on expenses and redundancies. Also, almost all of those small businesses surveyed have avoided slashing insurance cover to cut costs.

Alan Thomas, small business insurance expert at Hiscox, says: "Small businesses are an integral part of the UK's business landscape, so it's good to see that many are so confident about their survival prospects and have avoided some of the more difficult measures such as salary cuts and redundancies."

Hiscox says a large percentage of those choosing to maintain their levels of insurance cover is reassuring given that in this downturn it is seeing an increase in professional liability claims which reflects the increased litigation that always comes hand in hand with a recession.

Thomas says: "The fact that a majority of small businesses surveyed believe that the downturn in the UK shows no sign of abating, makes it more important than ever for businesses to ensure they have sufficient cover."

SOURCE: Hiscox, 01/09/09

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