1.6 million SMEs hit by key person absence

Yet majority do not protect themselves

Adam Saville
clock • 2 min read

Just over 40% of SMEs think key person absence would severely impact their business, research reveals

Nearly three in 10 (27%) of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) surveyed by YouGov have witnessed a key person or employee miss work for a period of time - equating to 1.6 million businesses - research from Royal London has revealed. Despite this, more than 4.6 million SMEs (76% surveyed) do not have any key person insurance protection in place. The research also revealed that one in seven (16%) of all SMEs surveyed do not have any business protection in place at all. According to the survey, 2.4 million SMEs (41%) agreed absence of a key person or permanent employee absence (due to...

To continue reading this article...

Join COVER for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, key trend analysis and industry insights.
  • Stay on top of the latest developments around health and wellbeing, diversity and inclusion and the cost of living crisis.
  • Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletter.
  • Members only access to monthly programme 'The COVER Review'
  • Be the first to hear about our CPD accredited events and awards programmes.

Join now

 

Already a Cover member?

Login

More on Individual Protection

Finances negatively impacting young adults' mental health

Finances negatively impacting young adults' mental health

The Exeter research findings

Jaskeet Briah
clock 10 July 2026 • 2 min read
CII looks to reduce repeat disclosures for vulnerable customers

CII looks to reduce repeat disclosures for vulnerable customers

Launches cross-sector Vulnerability Data Sharing Taskforce

Jaskeet Briah
clock 08 July 2026 • 2 min read
UK lags behind global countries in managing chronic health: Zurich

UK lags behind global countries in managing chronic health: Zurich

Provider publishes Chronic Care Index

Jaskeet Briah
clock 07 July 2026 • 3 min read