A GlobalData survey has discovered {that a} cyber safety hole persists throughout UK SME segments, pushed by rising menace publicity and the under-penetration of cyber insurance coverage. As SMEs deepen their reliance on digital techniques and cybercrime turns into extra refined, many corporations stay uninsured or underinsured relative to their publicity.
GlobalData’s 2025 UK SME Insurance coverage Survey discovered that cyber insurance coverage penetration rises sharply according to agency dimension: 13.1% of sole merchants report holding cyber insurance coverage, in contrast with 26.4% of micro corporations, 40.1% of small corporations, and 63% of medium-sized corporations. This means that the smallest corporations—which frequently have the weakest cyber controls and least capability to soak up losses—stay the least protected. Persistent adoption obstacles embody perceived affordability points, uncertainty about what cyber insurance policies cowl, and restricted entry to clear recommendation on the level of sale.
Analysis from Grant Thornton reinforces the dimensions of non-coverage, discovering that 35% of UK SMEs haven’t any cyber insurance coverage in place. In the meantime, in response to the UK Division for Science, Innovation and Expertise, 42% of small companies skilled a breach or assault in 2025, highlighting a widening mismatch between incident
frequency and safety. Specialists argue that positioning cyber as a specialist add-on reasonably than customary business safety will increase the probability of SMEs discovering protection gaps solely after an incident. For insurers, this under-penetration represents each a progress and retention alternative. Closing the hole would require enhancing distribution effectiveness (together with dealer schooling and gross sales instruments), decreasing underwriting friction for smaller corporations, and reframing cyber as a sensible resilience product combining insurance coverage with incident response and preventative companies. Suppliers that make cyber cowl simpler to purchase, simpler to know, and clearly related to SME operational continuity are greatest positioned to extend connect charges and cut back persistent underinsurance.