1 IN 10 SMALL BUSINESSES CAN'T GET INSURANCE COVER

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 14th Jul 2003

1 in 10 small businesses are unable to find liability insurance cover according to a new report published today by the Federation of Small Business.

Brian Cotter MP, the Liberal Democrat Spokesman on Small Business, said: "Soaring insurance costs are having a devastating effect on small businesses. With 9% of small businesses unable to find Employers' Liability Compulsory according to an FSB survey, is about time that the Government stopped acting as if there was no problem."

"The Small Business Council is calling on the Government to scrutinise legal costs, to reconsider legislation, such as the Health and Social Care, which will push up insurance costs even further, and to negotiate immediately a minimum 30 day insurance renewal notice period."

"The Government must stop sitting on its hands. The evidence and the recommendations are there. Now it needs to act."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Brian Cotter is responding to the Small Business Council Report 2003 and a report published by the Federation of Small Business on Small Businesses in 2003 Insurance Market.