Death of a business owner tops the list as the most disruptive scenario for businesses across the UK, reveals the joint Legal & General and unbiased.co.uk “Every Business Matters” campaign.  Despite this more than half of SMEs do not have any form of protection to safeguard the business against the risks associated with losing the owner.

The study reveals that death of a business owner would have the most impact on a business. Businesses ranked this higher than their business premises being badly damaged by fire. A business owner suffering a critical illness came in third.

More than one in ten SME owners predict their business would cease trading immediately as a result of the death or critical illness of a key worker or business owner. A further two fifths say their business would ultimately cease trading as a result; 25 per cent per cent within the first year, six per cent within the second year, and 11 per cent after two years.

bout a quarter of smaller businesses cite cost as the primary reason for not putting protection in place to safeguard their business against the loss of a key worker or business owner. However, more worryingly, a further 17 per cent say it is not something they have even considered.

Losing a key worker or business owner also has employment implications; some 27 per cent of SMEs predict it could take three to six months to find and train a suitable replacement following the loss of a key worker.

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