Industry research indicates that SME customers choose insurance providers based on a combination of price, service quality, transparency, and flexibility. This is increasingly important in competitive SME and personal lines markets, where pricing advantage is harder to sustain, and differentiation increasingly depends on customer experience and product design.
GlobalData’s 2025 UK SME Insurance Survey shows that policy price remains the most important factor, with 39.5% of SMEs ranking it in their top five factors when selecting an insurer. However, pricing transparency (37.3%) and ease of accessing and understanding policy information (35.8%) follow closely behind, signalling strong demand for clarity, simplicity, and trust in insurer communications.
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The data also highlights the growing importance of tailored insurance. 31.2% of SMEs ranked the ability to tailor cover to their specific needs among their top five decision factors, ahead of brand recognition (26.2%) and prior relationships with an insurer (20.8%). This suggests that flexible, needs-based product design may be displacing legacy brand loyalty as a source of competitive advantage, reinforcing the strategic value of modular and customisable insurance propositions. As a result, the market creates a clear opportunity for smaller insurers and MGAs to disrupt: if they can deliver competitive pricing, clear and transparent policy terms, and highly tailored, modular cover (often enabled by faster product iteration and specialist underwriting), they can win SME customers despite having lower brand recognition. In this environment, execution on clarity and customisation can outweigh brand strength, allowing newer or niche providers to compete more effectively on proposition rather than reputation.
What are the most important factors when choosing an insurance provider? 2025
This emphasis on tailored cover is consistent with 2025 research published by AXA UK, which points to mounting pressures on SMEs, including rising national insurance contributions, high business rates, and increasing operating costs, that are reshaping risk priorities and insurance demand. AXA’s findings indicate that SMEs increasingly want cover that reflects their business model and sector-specific risks, rather than standardised, one-size-fits-all policies.
AXA’s research and GlobalData’s surveying highlight a clear opportunity for insurers to deepen SME engagement through transparent pricing, simplified communications, and flexible, needs-based product design. While price remains critical, the rising prominence of customisation, clarity, and service quality suggests that insurers that adapt their propositions and distribution accordingly will be better positioned to drive growth and retention in the SME segment.
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By GlobalData
