Cash flow drying up is the biggest risk to business success but not enough businesses are aware of the insurance available to protect them.
That's the message from insurance brokers Towry Law. The firm said business failures and bad debts were at their highest levels for seven years and the events of 11 September had compounded the situation.
Towry Law managing director Martin Wright said: "Businesses aren't helpless ...There are new online services where they can buy credit insurance or they could buy business credit checks."
Towry Law said products existed where businesses could insure their major customers against being unable to pay their bills because of insolvency.
It said this could be done for an entire client base or on a specific account basis.
It said another useful product protected businesses' cash flow against their goods being held up at national borders. That situation occurred when French lorry drivers blocked ports.
"The nature of insurance is that most things can be covered - from reputation damage to hard cash.
"If you have concerns about the market environment or believe your customers could pose a threat to your own business, take action now," said Wright.
