United Kingdom (UK) SME Insurance Competitor Dynamics 2021
SMEs are a critical part of the UK’s business landscape. As a result, they are a key target group for many commercial insurers. The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on the segment, with a notable decline in the number of businesses operating and a slight reduction in insurance penetration levels. From an insurance perspective, AXA, Aviva, and Zurich retain their positions as the top three providers, but the competition behind them is intensifying, with providers such as NFU Mutual making a strong play in the micro-business space.
The United Kingdom (UK) SME insurance market research 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.
What are the critical success factors behind the UK SME insurance market?
The uptake of SME insurance has fallen since the COVID-19 pandemic began. SMEs are dealing with challenging conditions and cost pressures. At the same time, the market is increasingly competitive. While AXA and Aviva continue to dominate with their comprehensive product coverage, behind them other providers are increasing their market shares with strong plays to the sole trader and micro-business segment.
What are the key distribution channels in the UK SME insurance market?
The key distribution channels in the UK SME insurance market are brokers, direct channel, bank, and PCW. In 2021, brokers were the leading channels.
UK SME insurance market, by distribution channels
For more distribution channel insights, download a free report sample
Who are the key insurance providers in the UK SME insurance market?
The key insurance providers in the UK SME insurance market are AXA, Aviva, Zurich, NFU Mutual, and Direct Line. Aviva consistently outperforms its closest competition across the four product lines, namely public liability, employers’ liability, commercial property, and professional indemnity, with the highest penetration rates among SMEs.
Aviva
In the SME space, it performs particularly well in the small and medium-sized business segments. Aviva announced a number of product developments for SMEs over the course of 2021. These include its new cyber insurance offering and a revamped private medical insurance proposition for individual and SME customers. In addition to these new product developments, Aviva continues to enhance its online trading platform, introducing changes such as improved quote journeys and the ability to add temporary drivers to mini-fleet policies.
AXA
It is particularly strong in the small and, to a lesser degree, the medium business spaces. AXA has increasingly ramped up its investment in its UK SME proposition in recent times, notably opening two SME Trading Centers in Bolton and Ipswich in 2019 to better serve the brokers serving the segment. In 2021, AXA announced a five-year agreement with Co-operative Bank, through which it becomes the bank’s preferred insurance provider for its revamped SME banking proposition. The insurer has also sought to develop its position as a thought leader in and a support to the SME space.
Zurich
Within the SME space, Zurich performs particularly well with medium-sized businesses. Notable investments in recent years include the 2019 launch of its broker trading platform for SME and specialty business, Zurich Online. At a group level, Zurich also announced a global partnership in 2021 with Toronto insurtech BOXX Insurance, which provides cybersecurity and insurance solutions to SMEs and individuals.
UK SME insurance market, by insurance providers
For more insurance provider insights, download a free report sample
Market report scope
| Key distribution channels | Brokers, Direct Channel, Bank, and PCW |
| Key insurance provider | Aviva, AXA, Zurich, NFU Mutual, and Direct Line |
Reasons to Buy
- Identify UK SME insurance market leaders.
- Learn the providers of choice for SME insurance among brokers.
- Discover the strategies and NPSs of the top SME insurers.
- Identify growth opportunities in the SME space.
- Discover value-added services that are in demand.
Key Players
Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
Frequently Asked Questions
The key distribution channels in the UK SME insurance market are brokers, direct channel, bank, and PCW. In 2021, brokers were the leading channels.
The key insurance providers in the UK SME insurance market are AXA, Aviva, Zurich, NFU Mutual, and Direct Line.
Get in touch to find out about our multi-purchase discounts
reportstore@globaldata.com
Tel +44 (0) 20 7947 2960
Every customer’s requirement is unique. We understand that and can customize the report basis your exact research requirements pertaining to market insights, innovation insights, strategy and planning, and competitive intelligence. You can also avail the option of purchasing stand-alone sections of the report or request for a country specific report.
Still undecided about purchasing this report?
Testimonial
“The GlobalData platform is our go-to tool for intelligence services. GlobalData provides an easy way to access comprehensive intelligence data around multiple sectors, which essentially makes it a one-for-all intelligence platform, for tendering and approaching customers.
GlobalData is very customer orientated, with a high degree of personalised services, which benefits everyday use. The highly detailed project intelligence and forecast reports can be utilised across multiple departments and workflow scopes, from operational to strategic level, and often support strategic decisions. GlobalData Analytics and visualisation solutions has contributed positively when preparing management presentations and strategic papers.”
“COVID-19 has caused significant interference to our business and the COVID-19 intelligence from GlobalData has helped us reach better decisions around strategy. These two highlights have helped enormously to understand the projections into the future concerning our business units, we also utilise the project database to source new projects for Liebherr-Werk to use as an additional source to pitch for new business.”
Your daily news has saved me a lot of time and keeps me up-to-date with what is happening in the market, I like that you almost always have a link to the source origin. We also use your market data in our Strategic Business Process to support our business decisions. By having everything in one place on the Intelligence Center it has saved me a lot of time versus looking on different sources, the alert function also helps with this.
Having used several other market research companies, I find that GlobalData manages to provide that ‘difficult-to-get’ market data that others can’t, as well as very diverse and complete consumer surveys.