Broker targeting under-insured small and medium-sized businesses outside Belfast

A COMMERCIAL insurance brokerage is aiming to grow its brand by targeting small to medium-sized enterprises across Northern Ireland.

Lockton said it is developing a team of commercial insurance consultants to target potential customers outside Belfast.

Lockton Belfast, which is part of the global Lockton brand, employs more than 80 staff in client servicing, broking, claims management and risk management.

Brian Mullen, a commercial insurance consultant at Lockton, said: “With over 130,000 small and medium enterprises located across Northern Ireland, it’s safe to say that these businesses

‘Unique needs’: Brian Mullen

are the backbone of our economy. With a number of these businesses being family-owned and operated and located outside of Belfast, Lockton has pinpointed the unique needs of these organisations to develop an insurance producttofittheirrequirements and budgets.”

His colleague Kieran Hurley said: “As threats to small businesses continue to evolve, many are opting to bury their heads in the sand, ignoring new dangers like cyber crime or GDPR.

“We have also found that organisations are operating with insufficient public liability limits or professional indemnity and directors and officers (D&O) coverage.

“Many organisations opt out of this coverage, seeing increasing insurance requirements as a way of insurers upselling to raise fees.

“In many cases, however, it will only take one incident to cripple an under insured business.”