Larger firms are letting down small business insurance holders by not paying them promptly, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has claimed.
According to the group, just eight FTSE 100 businesses have signed up for the government's Prompt Payment Code, which aims to ensure small business insurance customers receive a timely settlement.
Phil Orford, chief executive of the FPB, claimed that the problem does not lay with the specifics of the scheme but in the attitude towards payments which is held by larger business insurance holders.
He added: "It is vital that FTSE 100 companies sign up without delay in order to nurture the certainty and stability that is lacking for small businesses."
Stuart Blake, FPB late payment adviser, also said that small companies should learn to stand up for their rights when it comes to payments, pointing out that they are protected to a certain extent by contract law.
Recently, Continental Research claimed that more than half of the UK's small business insurance holders failed to make a profit in the first months of the year.
