SME and claims - The claims merry-go-round

The liability sector was predicted to become the fastest growing area of claims for SMEs as the compensation culture time-bomb finally exploded in the UK. Liz Booth finds out the facts, right from the horse's mouth

Three years ago, a Datamonitor survey predicted the fastest growing area of claims would be the liabilities sector.

It foresaw costs rising at 5.6% per annum until 2006, driven by growing claims in respect of work-related stress, mobile telephone use, deep vein thrombosis and "a continuation of the litigious culture in the UK".

Datamonitor was not alone in its fears about the state of liability insurance. At that time, there were plenty of reports of firms under threat of closure because they