Business people seek information about insurance predominantly from their insurance adviser and via their own private network (family and friends).
- Insurance advisers and the internet - key sources of information for business people
Business people seek information about insurance predominantly from their insurance adviser and via their own private network (family and friends). Start-up small and medium businesses and established self-employed workers also obtain this information from their business network (ex-colleagues and businesspeople in the field). Unlike start-up small and medium businesses, the self-employed prefer to search for their own information about insurance, predominantly via price comparison websites and insurance companies' websites. These were the findings of the Intomart/GfK survey* commissioned by the insurance company Delta Lloyd.
Start-up small and medium businesses prefer to take advice
Start-up small and medium businesses rely more heavily on outside advice when it comes to information about insurance. Both accountants (34%) and insurance advisers (58%) constitute a more important source of information for small and medium businesses than for the self-employed. Advisers at banks or insurance companies are less frequently seen as a source of information for insurance than insurance advisers. This applies to both start-up small and medium businesses and the self-employed. Business people have definitely arranged their insurance most frequently via their "home banks", according to the qualitative interviews.
Self-employed workers find insurance advisers via their private network
Of those businesspeople with an insurance adviser, the greatest number found this person in their private network (68% of small and medium businesses, 64% of start-up self-employed workers and 46% of established self-employed workers). To a markedly limited extent, the insurance adviser has been located via the business network. Around a third of businesspeople expect to be arranging more of their insurance via the internet in future; these expectations are strongest amongst men, young people and those with a university education.
Ease of getting insurance
The ease with which insurance can be arranged is important (82% of small and medium businesses, 77% of start-up self-employed workers and 72% of established self-employed workers). Business people prefer to arrange insurance with one telephone call rather than arranging it online; thus in this case there seems to be a strong need for personal contact. Finally, according to the findings of the qualitative studies, the important thing is for insurance to be clearly focused on the type of business (78% of small and medium businesses, 76% of start-up self-employed workers and 81% of established self-employed workers).
A tailored solution for business people
In May Delta Lloyd, in its capacity as an expert insurance provider, introduced the Eigen Baas ("Own Boss") package for self-employed workers. Delta Lloyd is the first insurance provider to offer (banking) life annuities, income protection and unemployability insurance, and a life insurance policy alongside business damage insurance in one package for this target group.
For business people Delta Lloyd offers a range of options within the Business people's Package, with special cover for specific fields, such as catering, the wholesale trade, commercial service providers, start-ups and registered owners. Delta Lloyd provides products for the Construction, Garage, Metals, Logistics & Haulage and Care Provider sectors.
Further information about the solutions for business people can be found on the Delta Lloyd website and www.deltalloyd.nl/mkb or www.deltalloyd.nl/eigenbaas.
-ends-
Further information:
Marc Smulders
Spokesman Delta Lloyd Insurance
Telephone: (020) 594 27 07
E-mail: pers@deltalloyd.nl
* The survey, commissioned by Delta Lloyd, was conducted this year by Intomart/GfK amongst 540 start-up self-employed workers, established self-employed workers and start-up small and medium businesspeople aged 18 and above.