Most Australians have inadequate life insurance, with Rice Warner research suggesting that as a nation we have a life insurance shortfall of around $1,833 billion.

But whilst the issue has been widely discussed and documented, there has been little discussion around the issue specifically in relation to small business owners.

The potential consequences of small businesses being uninsured or underinsured can be much further reaching than those for underinsured individuals.  That’s because most small business owners don’t just have family members dependent on them, they have employees and suppliers, and so the economic flow-on of a small business owner being disabled or dying can be much more devastating.

A recent survey conducted by the Cameron Research Group suggests that the small business underinsurance issue could be a ticking time bomb.  Their survey, ‘The Australian Small Business Market for Financial Services: 2010’ contained some disturbing statistics about small business owners and life insurance:

Whilst 100s of Small Business Owners (SBOs) have heard of Life Insurance, only 65% of them have cover…

•  3 in 5 SBOs have no TPD cover
•  9 in 10 SBOs with loans have no loan protection cover in place
•  3 in 4 SBOs have no Trauma cover
•  3 in 5 of SBOs have no Income Protection Cover

Insure Me Now’s Life’s insurance products are available online in just a few simple steps, and there are absolutely no medical or blood tests to take. Just some basic health and lifestyle questions to answer and you could be covered in minutes.