Giving SMEs the breathing space they need to bounce back for good

With automatic 24-month Business Interruption (BI) cover and new digital tools, we’re bridging the underinsurance gap - at no cost to your clients.

It’s often underappreciated that the biggest risk to business recovery isn’t the size of the loss itself, it’s the ticking clock that follows. Once a serious interruption hits, the longer it takes to get back to full trading, the greater the cost and the harder it becomes to keep staff and customers. Because of this blind spot, many small businesses overestimate how quickly they could bounce back. Our research shows 86% of SMEs believe they’d recover within a year,¹ but our claims data tells a different story. In reality, 43% of businesses took between 12 and 24 months to recover – and only one in five had cover that would last that long.²

Why awareness alone won’t fix underinsurance

When cover runs out before a business has fully recovered, the impact can be severe. Our research found that a quarter of SMEs would have to adapt operations just to stay open, while others would need to rely on loans, savings or cash reserves.¹ For some, the shortfall could mean closure.

“Small business owners often think about recovery purely in physical terms, such as replacing buildings or equipment,” said Rebecca Gambrell, Managing Director, SME and Delegated Authorities. “But it also takes time to rebuild customer confidence, rehire staff and restart supply chains.”

Brokers play a vital role in helping their clients identify and plan for potential wider disruption - issues like struggling to get planning permission, complex tender processes, long lead times from suppliers or losing key staff and customers. Encouraging conversations around realistic recovery timelines and contingency scenarios can make all the difference.

“Brokers want to recommend the right indemnity period” added Kat Halbert, Head of Digital Operations. “Education helps, but when longer indemnity cover pushes the premium beyond what clients feel they can afford, they’re forced to make difficult choices.”

Tackling underinsurance at no extra cost

“We’ve spoken about BI underinsurance for years as an industry, but little has changed for customers” said Rebecca. “So, we wanted to take a practical step to help close that gap and protect SMEs without adding to their costs.”

To this end, new and renewed Fast Trade commercial policies will automatically include a 24-month BI indemnity period at no extra cost to clients. The enhancement applies across Commercial Combined, Office and Surgery and Property Owners policies. Any policyholder who previously selected a 12 or 18 month period will automatically move to 24 months on renewal, with the sum insured uplifted proportionally to match the extended cover.

“We’re proud to be leading the UK market in taking this step” added Kat. “By extending the indemnity period and aligning the sum insured proportionally, we’re giving SMEs the time and financial headroom to recover properly.”

Smarter support for brokers and clients

The automatic 24-month uplift forms part of Aviva’s wider investment in data, tools and broker support, which is designed to improve outcomes and reduce underinsurance.

On Fast Trade, the underinsurance detector automatically checks declared sums insured against benchmark data, flagging where cover may be too low and prompting brokers to review and adjust.

To help calculate realistic recovery costs, our Business Interruption Calculator offers step-by-step guidance on which figures to include and how to set accurate sums insured. A simplified client-facing version is in development, designed to help SMEs better understand their own exposure and engage more confidently in conversations about cover.

“These tools make it easier for brokers to have the right discussions” said Kat. “And the more clients see the data for themselves, the more likely they are to recognise the value of comprehensive protection.”

Building resilience together

Ultimately, recovery depends on more than optimism.

“With data-driven tools and extended BI cover, we’re helping set a new standard for how the market protects small businesses when it matters most” said Rebecca. “By working closely with brokers to directly tackle one of the causes of BI underinsurance, we can make sure more of our clients stay in business when the unexpected occurs.”

^{1 Aviva research, October 2025}

^{2 Aviva BI claims data, 2024}