Late payment worsening in insurance

The figure for the third quarter of 2012 was a deterioration on the 20.24 days reported in the second quarter of this year and nearly two days worse than the 19.73 days in the same period of 2011.

The numbers were still better than the rest of the economy despite the fact that overall UK businesses paid their bills nearly 1.3 days earlier in Q3 2012, compared to the same period last year.

In July to September this year, firms paid their overdue invoices 24.88 days after agreed terms, compared to