Research from QBE insurance has indicated that 26% of businesses in Hong Kong have suffered lost income due to a business interruption in the past year.
Many companies are likely to seek business liability and professional indemnity insurance after a disruption has occurred, a survey of SME’s and large corporations in the territory found. For example, 65% of businesses experience customer fraud or fraudulent payments via the internet, 60% of businesses that had sensitive data stolen via the internet and 46% that had business systems or computers hacked all took action afterwards.
“What this means is that by waiting until after the fact to protect themselves, they are missing out on any compensation for the initial event and in the process potentially putting business stability in jeopardy,” QBE Hong Kong CEO Mark Walker said.
The most frequently encountered risks over the last 12 months, besides business interruption include; equipment breakdown (23%), legal and regulatory compliance issues (21%) and staff injuries while working (20%).
The survey results indicate that 93% of Hong Kong respondents have some form of business insurance however, only 67% are aware of business liability cover and less than half (47%) have taken out this form of insurance.
