The scope of the Consumer Duty means that most commercial insurance buyers (except for very large risks) are afforded the level of protection that was intended for consumers and the smallest, least sophisticated buyers (e.g. micro businesses). Many larger SMEs do not need this level of regulatory protection which comes with a considerable resource-intensive regulatory process and therefore cost; for example, the increased workload due to time-consuming product value assessments.

For larger SMEs that use a broker, the service provided is a holistic assessment of their business needs not at the individual product level, which is a feature of consumer-focused regulation.