• Professional and Scientific sector saw the most growth in use of credit to pay for insurance premiums last year, Premium Credit Insurance Index shows
• More than half of SMEs use some form of credit to pay for insurance, borrowing an average of £1,180

New analysis* from the UK’s leading insurance premium finance company, Premium Credit, shows the Construction sector borrows the most to fund insurance premiums but the Professional and Scientific sector saw the most growth in terms of using credit for this purpose.

Premium Credit’s Insurance Index**, which monitors insurance buying and how it is financed, shows 54% of SMEs use some form of credit to pay for insurance premiums, borrowing an average £1,180. Around 15% of them say they have borrowed more than £3,000. Two years ago the index*** found 51% of SMEs were using credit to pay for insurance premiums and borrowing an average £1,130.

Construction firms were the most likely to use credit to fund insurance premiums – they accounted for 13.8% of all loans from Premium Credit last year, slightly lower than in 2023 although still 1 percentage point higher than 2022.

The Professional and Scientific sector accounted for the second highest share of loans at 13.3% last year and saw the most growth with its share slightly higher than in 2023 and 1.2 percentage points up on 2022.

The third highest share was taken by the Manufacturing sector with the Wholesale and Retail Trade and Land Transport sectors recording the fourth and fifth highest shares.

Premium Credit’s Insurance Index shows 51% of SMEs report that the cost of their business insurance has increased in the past 12 months with 10% saying it has increased dramatically. Last year 50% said the cost of their insurance had increased with 12% saying it had increased dramatically.

The table below outlines the top five sectors for share of total lending to buy credit and how that has changed over the past three years.

Jon Howells, Chief Commercial Officer, at Premium Credit commented: “Credit plays a major role in funding vital insurance premiums across a wide range of sectors as demonstrated by the ongoing growth in loans we have seen. It is particularly valuable in construction which is consistently the biggest sector for lending.”

Notes:
(*) Premium Credit’s lending data for 2024, 2023 and 2022
(**) Independent research conducted by Viewsbank online among 988 SME owners and managers between March 7th and 11th 2025
(***) Independent research conducted by Viewsbank online among 933 SME owners and managers between March 17th and 20th 2023
(****) Independent research conducted by Viewsbank online among 1,332 SME owners and managers between March 22nd and 26th 2024