Nearly 9 Percent of Small Businesses Suffered a Burglary or Theft Last Year

If you haven’t taken adequate steps to protect your business from burglary or theft, now is the right time to rethink your strategy. According to new data by Chicago-based insurance agency Insureon, 8.8 percent of small businesses suffered a burglary of theft in 2016.

The survey further reveals a business owner might have to pay approximately $8,000 out of pocket for a burglary or theft incident. That’s a significant price to pay for any small business.

Businesses Reluctant to File for Insurance Claims

Other than burglary or theft, many small businesses also experienced client complaints or contract disputes (22.2 percent) and employee injury (10.6 percent), all incidents potentially resulting in costs that might have been covered by insurance.

It’s worth noting that 35.2 percent of businesses were hit by an incident that insurance might have covered. Surprisingly however, many small business owners like Dylan Gallagher, owner of tour company Orange Sky Adventures, aren’t filing claims.

“We had our van broken into by a robber the other day and I had two choices: pay the $300 bill myself or go through my insurance company,” says Gallagher. “I chose to pay the bill myself to avoid bureaucracy. Besides, I’d rather keep my insurance premiums low and just get on with business.”

Tip to Prevent Thefts

For businesses, it pays to boost security to prevent thefts or burglaries. Luckily, there are several budget-friendly options to choose from.

Take the dropcam for example. Considered one of the easiest entry-level solutions, dropcams are do-it-yourself devices that address small business needs.

Another tip is to train employees to keep an eye on customers.

For the study, Insureon surveyed 1,002 small business owners online.

Security Camera Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "Nearly 9 Percent of Small Businesses Suffered a Burglary or Theft Last Year" was first published on Small Business Trends