Business insurance customers may be at an increased risk of fraud in the coming year, it is predicted.
The number of business insurance customers seeking fraud protection is expected to rise, after reported cases in the UK increased by 15 per cent in 2008 compared to the previous year.
"Historically, when times are hard fraud increases," said Dean White, managing director of Marsh, which has made the claims.
As businesses struggle to survive, "unlawful practices which otherwise would have been viewed as unacceptable…may appear a lucrative option", he added.
Mr White asserted that good risk management strategies would be vital to business insurance customers if they want to stay afloat, including looking out for odd behaviour in staff and checking the CVs of new employees.
Last week, a survey found that workers are suffering more stress compared to last year, largely due to the credit crunch.
Personneltoday reported that nearly half of the employees polled by LearnHR said they were feeling more anxious.
