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Press Release

FSB fears compensation rule change will hit businesses

1 March 2006

In the response to a Home Office Consultation document, “Rebuilding lives – supporting victims of crime”, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has today raised concerns about Government plans to change the Criminal Injuries Compensation System (CICS). The consultation period ends today (March 1st).

The Government’s document proposes to make businesses’ insurance policies pay for compensation to workers who are victims of crime. Currently the CICS pays compensation to workers injured during the commission of a crime.

The FSB, the UK’s largest business organisation, believes that this new proposal would force up premiums that until recently rocketed, often over 100% in one year, and are still too high. Small firms have been particularly hard hit by this problem.

58% of small firms have been the victims of crime in the past year and 25% of small businesses have found Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance difficult to obtain even without these proposed changes.

The FSB believes that there should be a Key Performance Indicator for the police specifically on business crime. Once monitored on their performance on this issue the police would then have to direct resources to tackling it. When polled over a third of FSB members believed that reporting a crime to the police ‘would not achieve anything’.

David Croucher, FSB National Crime spokesperson, said:

“Small firms have already been hit very hard by rocketing insurance premiums in the recent past. To expect them to pick up the higher insurance premiums that will result from these proposals is unacceptable. It would be a terrible double blow for a small firm to be a victim of crime and then have to pay extra for that dubious privilege.

“Our members know that their employees are the most vital resource in their business. They do everything they can to protect their workers and the firm from crime. After that we have to rely on the police, the judicial system and the Government to do their job.

“Employees who are victims of crime should continue to be paid out of the current scheme. Businesses should not be penalised by the actions of criminals. If crime against business were taken more seriously by the authorities then this issue would be less of a problem and this proposed change would not even be necessary.”



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Federation of Small Businesses

Federation of Small Businesses

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