Business Crime Rates Drop by 14 Per Cent
(firmenpresse) - LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwired) -- 07/17/13 -- AXA's annual Business Crime Index, which monitors the levels of crime committed against UK businesses, shows that after two years of rising crime rates, the last twelve months have seen a significant fall in both the number and average cost of business crime.
Highlights of the index reveal:
AXA, one of the UK's largest business insurers with around 25 per cent market share, compiles its index based on the claims records of its customers on an annual basis.
During 2013, all categories of crime monitored by the AXA index saw a fall in levels aside from deception and trickery which recorded a very slight increase.
The most common crime committed against business remained as theft in 2013, accounting for around three quarters of all crime. However the rate of thefts has dropped by 11 per cent year on year while those involving violence has dropped by 10 per cent. The average cost of theft claims remains similar to 2012 at just under GBP 4,000.
But while average theft costs were steady, a 13 per cent drop in the overall cost of crime was seen as a result of the average costs for arson and malicious damage both dropping by over 25 per cent.
In addition the riot claims, seen in summer 2011 and which accounted for some of the rises in crime and larger average costs last year, have not been repeated.
Research(1) carried out by AXA among business owners suggests that their attitude reflects the current situation with 85 per cent stating that they are either less worried or no more worried about the threat of crime to their business than a year ago.
Regional Hot Spots
Despite the overall picture being positive there are still some areas of the country experiencing rising crime levels or levels of crime well above average. The table below shows the postcode regions with the highest rates(2) of business crime across the UK for each of the last three years.
This year, 2013, as in previous years, many of those in the top ten are a reflection of areas in the country that have been hit hard by the effects of recession.
(i) beginning June to end May
Douglas Barnett, head of customer risk management at AXA says: "It's difficult to know exactly why there has been a drop in crime this year. It could be a sign of economic recovery, an indication of better prevention measures, or a combination of both.
"But whatever the reason, these figures are extremely encouraging not just for us as a business insurer but for the business community as a whole.
"The last few years have been tough for many and we know from our customers that becoming a victim of crime can be very hard to bounce back from, both financially and emotionally. So to see the number and value of crimes decreasing is a real boost to UK business.
"That said, complacency must not be allowed to reverse this trend and we would urge businesses wherever they are based, to do what they can to reduce the risk of becoming a victim in the future."
Notes to Editors
The following postcode areas all showed rising levels of crime:
The following postcode areas all showed crime rates above the national average:
Keeping crime out: top tips from AXA
AXA provides a number of services to businesses to help them get the right insurance and protect against crime:
About AXA Business Insurance
is part of AXA Insurance UK plc, which belongs to the AXA group of companies. With us, you choose the business insurance that's right for you. We offer public liability, employers' liability and professional indemnity insurance online to start ups, sole traders, self-employed people and small businesses. In addition we offer van insurance and landlord insurance. AXA Business Insurance also runs which provides resources to help protect and grow small businesses.
You can follow AXA Business Insurance on Twitter , for business insurance help, and , for the latest business news. You'll also find AXA Business Insurance on and - and you can watch expert guides and business case studies on the AXA Business Insurance channel.
About AXA
The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with more than 163,000 employees serving 102 million clients in 57 countries. In 2012, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 90.1 billion and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro 4.3 billion. AXA had Euro 1,116 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2012.
In the UK AXA operates through a number of business units including: AXA Wealth, AXA Commercial Lines and Personal Intermediary, AXA Personal Direct and Partnerships, AXA PPP healthcare, AXA Ireland and an independent distribution business Bluefin. AXA employs over 12,000 staff in the UK.
The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISN FR 0000120628 - Bloomberg: CS FP - Reuters: AXAF.PA). AXA's American Depository Share is also quoted on the OTC QX platform under the ticker symbol AXAHY.
The AXA Group is included in the main international SRI indexes, such as Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4GOOD.
It is a founding member of the UN Environment Programme's Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Sustainable Insurance and a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.
(1) Research was carried out on-line in June 2013 among 500 SME business owners or decision makers in the UK.
(2) These figures are based on the relative level of crime against numbers of businesses rather than actual numbers which will be greater in bigger postcode areas
Contacts:
AXA Business Insurance press office
Miranda Seymour
0208 246 6853 / 07966 549413
Themen in dieser Pressemitteilung:
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 17.07.2013 - 09:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 1246332
Anzahl Zeichen: 0
contact information:
Contact person:
Town:
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Phone:
Kategorie:
Other Professional Services
Anmerkungen:
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 167 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"Business Crime Rates Drop by 14 Per Cent
"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
AXA Business Insurance (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
